When you think of escaping to an unknown place with the love of your life surrounded by beautiful landscapes and engulfed by fantasy, the land of the Long White Cloud will not disappoint the hopeless romantic in you.
From living your Hobbit fantasy to soaking in some sulphuric goodness in a hot pool on a chilly day to discovering your love for farm animals to sipping on some piping hot flat white with some amazing city views from the 60th floor of the Sky Tower, the North Island will only get the romance started.
As you descend further south, (the further most that I have been to is touched the 45 degrees South latitude) the landscape around you becomes more and more unreal and other worldly. From taking a scenic train ride from Greymouth to Christchurch to the most epic coastal drive to Glenorchy from Queenstown to heli-hiking in one of the most accessible glaciers in the world and following its melting waters into the sea. The panoramic delights surrounding you will peak as you immerse yourself in a cruise in Fiordland at Milford Sound.
We have covered our trip to New Zealand in 5 Chapters from the lens of travelling from India, experiences to include in your itinerary, adventure activities to include in your travel plan, availability of vegetarian food in New Zealand and exploring the indigenous Maori culture with takeaways for our own wellbeing.
You are reading Chapter 2.
Chapter 4: A Vegetarian’s Food Guide to New Zealand
Table of contents
d. Top things to do in Rotorua NZ - Mineral pools at the Polynesian Spa, At the Hell’s Gate Geothermal Reserve and Mud Spa, Agrodome sheep show and animal farm experience in New Zealand
Love-struck by the North Island - Must-sees and must-dos in North Island New Zealand
What should you not miss in Auckland?
Kia Ora Auckland! (Kia Ora is a greeting in Maori which is the language of the indigenous people of New Zealand). We had the privilege of landing in the City of Sails on New Year’s eve and we did experience the NYE fireworks and the countdown at the iconic Sky Tower. We spent the evening walking around the Viaduct Harbour and soaking in the night views of Auckland. We were put up at Four Points by Sheraton which is very accessible to the Central Business District. One thing you want to take care of while in Auckland is the parking charges for your hired car, parking lots charge by the hour and generally hotels have a flat fee which is slightly on the higher side so depending on the number of days you’re in Auckland you can make a smart pick.
We spent the first day of the year getting atop the Sky Tower and enjoying aerial views of Auckland from 220 meters above ground level. The best part is to get some flat white coffee and a snack at the Sky Cafe where you can enjoy that cup of joe along with some stunning skyline laden views.
Waitomo Glow Worm Caves - Are the glow worm caves worth it?
Our next stop was this quaint little Kiwi town of Otorohanga where people stop the night only to be mesmerized by the Waitomo glow worm caves. We stayed at the Palm Court Motel which has limited vintage style rooms with the most thoughtful grey napkins to remove your make-up (as make-up badly stains white hand towels) and a cloth dryer/warmer in the bathroom to dry your wet clothes post your cave adventure.
A tour of the Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand
After the glow-worm studded evening and a daylight dinner in a terrace restaurant, we set out for Matamata the next morning to dive into Tolkein’s world of hobbit holes. We drove past emerald green pastures and lost count of the number of sheep we spotted on our way till we reached the Shire’s Nest. The Shire’s Nest is a café and souvenir shop from where one could board a bus to visit The Hobbiton movie set. We took a guided group tour across the movie set and captured ourselves outside some hobbit holes for the gram. It was fascinating to see hobbit holes of varying sizes to play with the cinematographer’s camera perspectives giving the illusion of varying heights for different characters of the movie. Our most favourite part of being somewhere in Middle Earth and experiencing the Middle Ages was sipping on some ale at The Green Dragon Inn overlooking the watermill. This place is like literally walking through the pages of your favourite fantasy fiction for all the Hobbit fans out there.
Top things to do in Rotorua NZ
Mineral pools at the Polynesian Spa
After a full day in Matamata, we reached our final destination on the North Island for the next few days - Rotorua. What is Rotorua best know for? Rotorua was a booming spa town in the 1840s and is still known for its geysers and sulphur pools. Upon checking into our hotel in the evening, we headed to the 125 year Polynesian Spa. We had booked a private mineral pool for an hour with a lake view and as we dipped ourselves like little tea bags into the warm mineral pool, it brewed some Rotorua romance with sulphur as the catalyst. We also experienced the community sulphur pools outside with different temperature preferences to pick from. If the hot water dehydrated you, you could also rest on some warm pool beds. It’s best to carry some drinking water as this therapy is extremely dehydrating and you should not wear any metal jewellery into the mineral pools.
At the Hell’s Gate Geothermal Reserve and Mud Spa
Another bizarre bubbling spectacle in Rotorua where the world cracked open (quite literally) is at Hell’s Gate geothermal reserve and mud spa. You could see mini geysers, mud volcanoes and sulphur in the atmosphere turning the barks of trees yellow. You can literally feel the planet alive here - roaring and rumbling with a bunch of inferno pools with boiling water that you’d have to be careful not to fall into as you tread along the wooden pathway. The experience at Hell’s gate was apocalyptic yet relaxing with it’s therapeutic mud baths and catching the sun set at 8:30 PM from its mineral pool.
Agrodome sheep show and animal farm experience in New Zealand
If you are an animal lover, then a visit to Agrodome should be a non-brainer for you. You can watch the sheep show where different breeds of sheep walk the ramp and you’re also allowed to meet and greet with them post the show. Classicism also exists in the sheep universe with the Merino sheep being the most coveted that bears the famous Merino wool. We saw the process of shearing a sheep to extract wool and then also bought some woollen wear from their store. We spotted a bunch of other adorable farm animals and literally felt like we were in that famous nursery rhyme - Old MacDonald had a farm… we spotted some baby goats, ducklings and the highlight of our farm tour was feeding some alpacas. Alpacas are like furry, mini giraffes and they do bear wool. Since they are a rare breed, alpaca wool is considered to be quite premier.
Enchanted by the South Island - Must see sights in New Zealand’s South Island
Are 5 days enough in Queenstown?
While most people associate the South Island with the adrenaline rush of Queenstown, very few talk about how spellbound it leaves you with its immaculate beauty.
Is Glenorchy worth the drive?
During our time in Queenstown, we took a stunning round trip to Glenorchy. We started from Queenstown at 8 PM and were back by the time the sun set around 9:45 PM. We made some stops along the way at viewpoints set atop rolling cliffs that dramatically plunged into the sea. This was indeed the most breathtaking coastal drive and we also stopped by at the iconic red hut to capture a memory of this drive for years to come
Spend some time at an alpine lavender farm in NZ
While in Queenstown, make some time to visit the Ben Lomond Lavender farm that is run by an adorable old couple. (Try to give them a call in advance before landing up) Their boutique farm oversees the Ben Lomond mountain and right beside the farm is a little patch of land that feels like it is right out of a William Wordsworth poem. There is a little lake with waddling ducks and a bridge that runs over the lake. A willow tree by the side under whose shade you can sit burying your head in a book or simply catching a prep siesta. While you get lost in the lavender fields, be careful of the countless bumble bees buzzing around the lavender plants. As long as you dont try to catch them, they will leave you alone. We also bought some lavender salt and essential oil from the lady owner who was also telling us how she used dried lavender even in her warm teas and in tea cake recipes.
Tour NZ’s largest wine cave and tasting Central Otago wines
Queenstown also offers access to Central Otago which is a wine growing region in New Zealand, and one unique winery experience is at the Gibbston Valley Winery. At Gibbston Valley, they have the country’s largest wine cave where wines are stored in a stone cave that has cooler and more consistent temperatures than the outdoors and serves as a natural cellar. We took a tour inside the cave and as amateur wine drinkers understood the importance of the year printed on a wine bottle. As of 2023, 2019 is considered the last best year of wine produced globally. We sampled a local red wine along with a few chardonnays and also understood why the Reds and Rosés of New Zealand have a slightly deeper hue - because of the thinner ozone layer over the country. And that is just a reminder of how much more sunscreen you need to slather onto yourself every few hours!
Milford Sound - The eighth wonder of the world in New Zealand
The highlight of your time in Queenstown will be a day trip to a piece of heaven on earth - Milford Sound. This group tour has multiple stops on the way and takes you through the Fiordland National Park. Your first stop would be the banks of the glacial Lake Te Anau and then your wagon would cut through glistening green valleys and cross utterly gorgeous passes to reach a viewing point for Mitre’s Peak whose reflection in the mirror calm waters is probably New Zealand’s most photographed site. Your next stop would be at Eglington Valley which is more popularly known as the Misty Mountains from the Lord of the Rings trilogy which was shot here. You could also fill your empty water bottles with some glacial springwater here during the summers. Spotting some keas along the way, which are the most intelligent of parrots that are found in large numbers in this region, you would reach the spot from where you would board your cruise boat.
Enveloped by astounding panoramas, as your cruise boat engine starts and you are standing on the deck with curious eyes longing to see what more hidden marvels are there to see in this little corner of the world. Rudyard Kipling rightly pronounced this place as the Eighth Wonder of the World - you have to experience it for yourself before it is lost to the fury of nature and climate change. With the wind in your hair as you slip past fjords, hidden coves, cascading waterfalls and secret beaches, Milford Sound is unmissable!
Guide to the scenic Crown Range with a nice drive to Cardrona
If you’re making your way to Glacial County from Queenstown, be sure to take the route of the Crown Range road in the quest of lupins which is this beautiful purple weed that grows all across New Zealand. The New Zealand Government has declared lupins a road safety hazard as its allure is so strong that passersby often stop the car on highways to click pictures leading to accidents. While I would strongly advise against doing this, we ourselves are guilty of it.
Enroute the Franz Josef Glacier, stop by one of the oldest and most photographed hotels of New Zealand - Cardrona and grab some lunch or a coffee in its outdoor seating and a greenhouse. This hotel has the most authentic vintage rooms and bathrooms with extraordinary attention to detail with a vintage car parked outside, post and telegraph office and an old school house. You could also stop by at Lake Wanaka which has a plethora of restaurants and the major attraction here is #ThatWanakaTree which you can easily locate on Google Maps. This place has a great vibe with the locals picnicking by the lakeside. Kiwis are very big on doing road trips in a campervan on long weekends, roaming around with their kayaks on top of their cars to stop by at one of the countless lakes that dot the country to go kayaking for a few hours and they also love to invest in good camping gear as they go tramping (the Kiwi word for hiking).
Discover the Franz Josef Glacier in NZ’s Glacier Country
While it was a balmy 25 degrees Celsius when we arrived in Glacier Country, our stay at Westwood Lodge ticked the living out of a wooden cabin up in the mountains from our bucket list. Our room was spacious and the utilities were well thought through with a His and a Her wash basin and a direct access to our car which was parked right outside the balcony which made it easy to manage our luggage. With its homespun hospitality, great glacier views from the common area, and accommodating hosts, I strongly recommend this place. A must do activity here is a half day hike aka the Eco Valley Guided Tour as tramping is indeed the national pastime of the Kiwis. This tour is an eye opener and showcases the real impacts of climate change and the pace at which it has led to the melting of the Franz Josef Glacier. You could also walk along the banks of an opaque milky glacial river and spot a brick or two of ice floating by into the sea which is just a few kilometers away and visible from a helicopter ride. The flora here is also very unique with subtropical plants and fan palms also known as the nikau palms which is the Kiwi cousin of a coconut palm.
TranzAlpine Train - One of the most scenic train rides in the world
As you descend back to sea level and head from the West coast to the East coast of the South Island, you will embark on the most scenic TranzAlpine railroad journey from Greymouth to Christchurch. It is a six hour long journey with a cafeteria on board and a five minute stop at the Arthur’s Pass National Park. The train route hugs cliffs and coasts and serves up some unique sights including some alpine scenery and deltas by the coast.
Best day trip from Christchurch to Kaikoura to spot whales and dolphins
The highlight of our time in Christchurch was living out of a boutique hotel with top drawer amenities inside the stone walls of the University of Canterbury - The Observatory Hotel. While the rooms were cosy and would remind you of your campus accommodation, it was accessible to the downtown and had a great back to college vibe to it. Christchurch served us as mere boarding and lodging to take a day trip to Kaikoura where we wanted to spot sperm whales. Unfortunately, our whale watching trip was canceled due to rainy weather but we found joy in the innumerable dolphins we spotted from the safety of the coast and the sea lions scurrying towards us on the sea rocks.
Last Word: North Island or South Island in New Zealand, which is better?
When you are on a holiday in New Zealand, everything suddenly seems to be more beautiful and romantic. Only a few days in this country will leave an impression on your soul that goes way beyond its perception of being on the bucket list of only adventure lovers. I’d suggest spending more time romanticising the South Island as compared to the North Island.
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