Travel 4: Our vacation to New Zealand (v1.0)

I planned a 3-week vacation to New Zealand. I spent a lot of time planning it and making sure it was a suitable plan for a senior citizen couple. We always wanted to see New Zealand, but for one reason or another it did not happen before. There were some hiccups before we started. My wife sustained a deep cut to her leg accidentally shortly before, and we were not sure she would be cleared by the doctor to travel. But she was cleared fortunately. 

We flew to Sydney from Honolulu on Feb 1, and spent a couple of nights there. We stayed in Darling Harbor area in Park Royal. Nice enough place with a great location. We spent a day wandering the streets of town hall square, and some huge malls close by to that like the Pitt Street Mall. This is a lively busy area with lots of shopping opportunities. We did a lot of window-shopping but did get a few souvenir tee shirts. My wife bought a great Australian hat, and some nice shoes too. Unfortunately, my lower front incisor teeth broke on Saturday February 3, and I spent the day hunting for a dentist and getting it attended to. It happens!! Unfortunately lost a day and was unable to see my friend there for lunch or take a harbor boat ride. But we have been to Sydney many times and will do so again so not worried. 

We boarded the Celebrity Edge cruise ship in the cruise ship terminal next to Darling Harbor on Sunday February 4. We had a balcony room in the forward port section of the ship. Occasionally the roll was perceptible, and I did throw up once and started taking motion sickness tablets while on ship. But otherwise, neither of us got sick throughout the vacation!! But just in case, we did have cruise insurance, and separately insurance for the land leg after the cruise. Great thing to have for peace of mind especially for senior citizens. We don't drink alcohol but did purchase non-alcoholic drink package. We especially enjoyed specialty coffee in the morning with it.  We don't go anywhere without internet so did buy the internet package (internet on ship is expensive). On an 11-day cruise, don't forget laundry and we did pre buy some laundry vouchers at a good discount (laundry in ship is expensive). I also signed up for a photo session with a professional photographer on board (my wife declined to do so). The photographer took some great photos of me in various great ship locations. Lastly, we opted for fixed 6PM dinner seating. This lets us walk straight to our set table in the same dining room between 5:30PM and 6:15PM without waiting in any lines or hassling for reservations. After 6:15PM, if we don't show, it is given to someone else. We used our set seating for 4 nights, but the rest of the time, we went elsewhere on the ship for dinner. We had no use for some ship features like the Spa or swimming pool (I don't swim, and my wife was recovering from a cut in the leg). My wife did use the casino on a few occasions for a fun time at the blackjack table (I don't gamble).  

The inside look at ship operations tour was interesting. We saw how the galley, procurement and storage and logistics, the control room, the bridge, and the laundry work. Running such a ship is a gigantic endeavor both from a logistics and operations perspective!! 

The ship departed Sydney, and the first two days were at sea as we crossed the Tasman Sea. The first visit on the third day at sea was to Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, and Dusky Sound in the lower South Island of New Zealand. We just sailed through these and did not stop, and I took some very memorable pictures. They were magnificent. 

Our first stop was at Dunedin in the South Island. The Otago Museum was great, but not enough time to do justice to it. We went on a train ride in a train up the Teira River gorge. Nice ride and took some memorable pictures. Dunedin railway station is a very highly photographed building! Very nice. 

The next stop was at Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. We went on a long bus ride across the Canterbury plains to the Southern Alps past Lake Clearwater to an area that was very beautiful and was the location of Edoras of Middle Earth in the movie "Lord of the Rings". It is not far from Mount Cook National Park. 

The next stop was at Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand. We toured the city including a stop at the rose garden. The Te Papa museum was amazing but not enough time to do it justice. The view from the top of Mount Victoria was stunning.

The next stop was Napier (Hawkes Bay). Not very memorable but a great wine growing area (second biggest after Marlborough).  We are not much into alcohol else would have booked a wine related tour. We did coast through Hastings and Napier on a bus. 

The next stop was Tauranga (Bay of Plenty). There was a nice small mountain (Mount Maunganui - a volcanic cone - considered very important and sacred by the Māori) next to the dock, and a nice beach on the other side of that mountain. Many excursions take off from here, like Rotorua which is the geothermal heart of New Zealand, and Hobbiton which has the hobbit town set in "Lord of the Rings" movie. It was Superbowl day that day and my wife decided to stay behind on the ship to watch the Superbowl (unfortunately her team - the 49ers - lost). I went on a long ride to see the Waitomo glow worm caves and it was stunning. You must go in a boat into the heart of the cave, which is pitch black, to see the glow worms and you can't photograph anything inside. I took a few photos outside. 

The next day was an at sea day and the day after was the Bay of Islands. Beautiful area with lots of pretty islands. The hole in the rock was stunning and the small boat went through that hole!!

The cruise then terminated at Auckland on Feb 15 and the land leg began. 

We flew straight to Queenstown in the south islands for 4 nights. It is situated by a lake with tall mountains on all sides. It sits on the shores of Lake Wakatipu offering breathtaking views of nearby mountains like the Remarkables, Cecil Peak, Walter peak, Ben Lomond, and Queenstown hill. We stayed at Ramada, which is in a great location close to town center with a great lake view. No car - no need for one. Besides why would you want to risk driving on the wrong side of the road? Queenstown is called the adventure capital of the world with bungee jumping, para sailing, skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, off road biking, jet skiing, etc. The scenery is stunning, and we took great pictures when we went on a boat ride around the lake. We also went on a bus ride to Glenorchy and Paradise with stunning scenery and the locales for many "lord of the rings" movie settings. We lastly went on a bus ride to Lake Wanaka which was also stunning. We passed by some "Lord of the Rings" locales on the way. We stopped at Cardrona on the way to Wanaka with its historic hotel. A visit to quaint Arrowtown on the way back with its gold rush history and Chinese gold miners was interesting. One excursion that would have been awesome is a road trip to Mount Cook, but it is a 12-hour tour from Queenstown, and we felt it would be too long for us seniors. A Heli tour is too expensive. We did some shopping on Shotover street and the two parallel streets to it. 

We then flew to Auckland (the largest city) for 3 nights but by then we were exhausted. We stayed at Crowne Plaza with a great location close to town center. No car - no need for one. Great public transit system in Auckland consisting of bus, rail and ferry. We did not do much in Auckland but did spend most of the day shopping on Queen Street and also spent some time going up the Auckland sky tower. We decided to revisit Auckland later to do more justice to that region when we were more energetic. We then flew home on Feb 22 to Honolulu. We lived through Feb 22 twice (New Zealand is 23 hours ahead of Honolulu). 

The Polynesian name for New Zealand is Aotearoa. New Zealand has a population of between 5 and 6 million people. The population is increasing at the rate of 1.4%-2% per year. They predominantly live in urban areas on the north island although the South Island is much larger. The five largest cities in decreasing size are Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch (South Island), Hamilton and Tauranga. Other important cities are Dunedin (South Island), Napier/Hastings, Whangarei near bay of islands, and Queenstown (South Island). 

The majority of New Zealand's population are of European descent (70% often referred to as Pakeha), with the indigenous Māori (Polynesians) being the largest minority (16.5%) followed by Asians (15.3%), and non-Māori Pacific islanders known collectively as Pasifika (9%). Most new migrants come from Britain and Ireland although the numbers from Asia in particular is increasing. New Zealand is unique among western countries for its high levels of ethnic intermarriage. According to a 2006 study for example, Māori have on average 43% European ancestry. 

New Zealand has an adult literacy rate of 99% and over half of the population aged 15-29 hold a tertiary qualification. English is the most dominant language spoken although it is spoken with an accent similar to Australian English.  

New Zealand is a developed, free market democratic country. Its policies lean on the liberal side. I believe they have or are proposing to have a minimum basic income concept so no excuse for poverty (guaranteed 385 NZD per week per adult after tax). I believe health care is free or heavily subsidized.  Even transitory tourists I believe have to pay nothing for medical in case of an accident. I also believe they make it harder to sue for personal liability. In fact, I believe there is no civil liability in New Zealand for most personal injuries.  I did not see any guns anywhere, but gun laws are reportedly laxer than other western countries except for USA. Did not really see crime being reported on TV. They have a flat automatic sales tax of 15% that you don't even see levied when you buy something. Don't know much about other taxes. 

GDP is around 250 billion USD. International trade makes up about 60% of economic activity. Top trading partners are Australia, China and USA. Major exports are agricultural products including meat and sheep products and wine, and crude oil/gas (all local oil exported since local refineries cannot process it), and wood products including paper. Many in the cities seem to be in retail. Housing seems expensive partly due to foreigners buying up property and jacking up prices for the locals. I believe laws were passed to make it much harder for foreigners to buy up property and inflate prices (don't know details).

The cost of living in New Zealand cities is similar to other western OECD countries and comparable to US cities. NY City is ranked 7th most expensive. Los Angeles 17th and San Francisco 19th. Auckland - the biggest and most expensive city - ranks 95th. Wellington the second biggest is ranked 120th. Smaller towns will be less expensive. Both Auckland and Wellington are ranked less expensive than Honolulu, Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Houston and Portland. The current exchange rate is about 1.6 NZD for 1 USD. 

Education for children under 5 is highly subsided (ECE). State primary and secondary schools are largely free, but there are some costs. Higher education is very good with 8 universities and 16 technology institutes. All the universities are in the world's top 500 and 5 are in the top 300. 

Visitor visa is easy to get and can be obtained electronically. Some foreigners get temporary resident visas by enrolling for higher education or work there for some time if it is in the official critical skill shortage list. What about retirees? If you’re aged 66 years or over, you can apply for a temporary retirement visitor visa that lasts for two years. It lets you travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you choose during your stay. You can include your partner in your application but can’t bring dependent children with you. You’ll need to invest NZ$750,000 in New Zealand for two years, have a further NZ$500,000 to live on and an income of NZ$60,000 a year. This visa can be extended under the same terms. For a permanent resident visa, if you have an adult child already living in New Zealand, they can sponsor your application for a parent category resident visa. The other option is an investor visa, but you’ll need a substantial sum available to invest in New Zealand.

A word about New Zealand wine. While New Zealand wine traces its history to the early 19th century, the modern wine industry in New Zealand began in the mid-20th century and expanded rapidly in the early 21st century, growing by 17% a year from 2000 to 2020. In 2020, New Zealand produced 329 million liters (87,000,000 US gal) from 39,935 hectares (98,680 acres) of vineyard area, of which 25,160 ha (about two-thirds) is dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc. Nearly 90% of total production is exported, chiefly to the United States, Britain and Australia, reaching a record 1.92 billion NZD in export revenue in 2020. Major Wine growing regions are Central Otago (near Queenstown) in South Island, Canterbury (near Christchurch) in South Island, Marlborough (near Wellington - the home of Matua wine!!) in South Island, Hawkes Bay (around Napier) in North Island, Bay of Plenty (around Tauranga) in North Island, and Northland (near Bay of Islands) in North Island. There are other smaller regions. 

This was the trip of a lifetime!! New Zealand is a stunning country and neither the camera (at least in my hands) nor words (at least from my mouth) does justice to it. My photos/videos are posted to my Instagram account.  Link is Jayaram Kasi (@jayaram.kasi) • Instagram photos and videos