First time in New Zealand. First time on a real solo trip. First time sleeping alone in hostels. This trip was a lot of firsts, but mostly it was a kid who grew up obsessed with The Lord of the Rings finally going to see the place where the best trilogy ever made was filmed….
My first time in New Zealand, I gave myself one week on the North Island, solo, before meeting a friend for ten days on the South Island and starting my contract at Cloudy Bay. Spoiler alert: it is nowhere near enough. Out of everything I squeezed into that week, the Coromandel is the one I…
This is everything I wish I’d known before the Isthmus Peak hike near Wanaka, starting with what time to actually leave the car park. Isthmus Peak sits between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea, and it is basically Roys Peak’s quieter, less Instagrammed sibling. Same kind of climb, same kind of view over two lakes at…
Everyone talks about Milford Sound or about Queenstown, the glaciers, that famous lake with the mountain behind it. But nobody tells you that the two and a half hours from Picton to Kaikōura might be the best day trip on the whole South Island. So I’m telling you now. On this road you stop every…
Everything you actually need to know about the New Zealand Working Holiday Visa before you fly, from someone who has now done this. So you want to spend a year in New Zealand, working here and there, chasing seasons, sleeping in a van, and pretending you have your life together. Good. That is exactly what…
If you’re planning a trip to New Zealand and want one overnight hike that truly feels worth the effort, Angelus Hut needs to be on your list. Mountain views, a frozen lake, the Milky Way so bright it looks fake, honestly the whole thing still feels a bit unreal when I think back on it….
The South Island has several mountain passes cutting through the Southern Alps, but the two most well-known are Arthur’s Pass and Lewis Pass, both connecting the east coast directly to the West Coast and back. This year I took three days to explore Arthur’s Pass properly, so here’s everything you can see in a day…
When you are not self contained, you learn the hard way how difficult it can be to find a free place to sleep in New Zealand. Honestly, it is pretty crazy. You are required to have toilets inside your car or van to sleep in many places, even when there are public restrooms just ten…