New Zealand Summary

We did it! We meandered across five major islands of New Zealand. Here are some statistics and answers to common questions about our trip.

• Time
• Day entered: 4-Dec-2017
• Day left: 19-Jun-2018
• Total # of days: 198
  • Nights slept in van: 176
  • Nights slept in tent: 3
  • Nights slept in hotel/etc.: 18
  • Nights paying for lodging: 39
• Islands:
  • Most time spent: South Island
  • Least time spent: Ulva Island
  • Most paid camping (ignoring hotels): South Island (ignoring Stewart, Ulva, and Tiritiri Matangi)
  • Least paid camping (ignoring hotels): North Island (ignoring Stewart, Ulva, and Tiritiri Matangi)
• Distance
  • Driven: ~26,690 km (~16,681 miles)
    • Island with most distance driven: South Island
    • Island with least distance driven: Stewart, Ulva, and Tiritiri Matangi Islands
  • Hiked: 578.42 km (386.45 miles)
    • Island most hiked: South Island (by a long shot, nearly 2.5 times as much as 2nd place)
    • Island least hiked: Ulva Island
  • Fuel fill-ups: 50
• Money
  • Total spent: $9,933.78 USD ($13,607.92 NZD) 
    • Consists of the costs of traveling full time in New Zealand, including insurance, etc. 
    • Does not include gear or van conversion costs
    • Does not include shipping costs or flights
    • Islands:
      • Most total cost: South Island
      • Least total cost: Ulva Island
  • Average cost per day: $50.17 USD ($68.73 NZD)
    • Island with most average cost per day: Stewart Island (includes ferry costs)
    • Island with least average cost per day: South Island
  • Average cost of diesel: $1.246 NZD per liter ($3.442 USD per gallon)
    • Island with most average diesel cost: North Island
    • Island with least average diesel cost: South Island
• Favorite Experiences (roughly in order of appearance per island)
• North Island:
• Craters of the Moon by Taupō
• The Pinnacles in Coromandel Peninsula
• Hobbiton Movie Set
• Putangirua Pinnacles
• Viewing the eels at Pukaha-Mt Bruce Wildlife Centre
• Lou’s Lookout at Te Urewera National Park
• Mangatutu Hot Springs/Pools
• Orakei Korako Geothermal Park
• Waitomo Caves and surroundings
• Hot Springs Beach in Coromandel Peninsula
• Kauri Coast
• Kauri Museum
• Tongariro Alpine Crossing (in fall)
• South Island:
• Kayaking to and walking through Kaipupu Wildlife Sanctuary
• Kayaking Otago Harbor at Harrington Point
• Avalanche Peak in Arthur’s Pass
• Slope Point
• Invercargill’s Southland Museum & Art Gallery
• Borland Saddle
• Greenstone and Caples Tracks
• Croesus Track
• Eating at Jackson Bay’s The Cray Pot
• Viewing Fox Glacier
• Oparara Basin
• Driving Highway 6 from Westport to Greymouth
• Driving to Milford Sound
• Key Summit
• Gertrude Saddle
• Driving through Skippers Canyon
• Spotting a Hector’s Dolphin in Akaroa Harbour
• Dusky Dolphins and Sperm Whales at Kaikoura (last try and afternoon sailing)
• Stewart Island
• Sunrise
• Ulva Island & Tiritiri Matangi Island
• Walking through a predator-free island filled with birdsong
• All the different birds and ferns. Varieties you wouldn’t expect!
• Playing ultimate frisbee throughout the islands
• And of course, meeting great people along the way! Thanks for those who opened their doors to us and helped us along!
• Why New Zealand?
• Step into an isolated pocket of the world to see the land of great films like Lord of the Rings (LOTR).
• It is a birder’s paradise. See how birds behave in an environment originally free of mammalian predators.
• There are very little poisonous or dangerous items here. Probably the most dangerous thing is the weather if you are hiking, or traffic if you are driving.
• You can readily see how humans impact the environment. And the effort that another country is going through to restore some of its native landscape.
• It is a English-speaking that has its very own and entertaining twist.
• Lots of hiking of all difficulty levels available, often with huts for sleeping.
• Beautiful places and scenery in a fairly compact area.
• Friendly people.
• Food
• Nothing too interesting here. Immigration here from SE Asia was greatly curbed earlier, so it is only now starting to get interesting food.
• There isn’t anything in particular that I would classify as Modern New Zealand.
• I didn’t really get to try indigenous food, but the staple meal of European settlers there has traditionally been meat and three vegetables (potato, sweet potato, and carrot).
• Uniquely Kiwi:
• Hokey Pokey flavor (ice cream, etc).
• Homemade salad dressing of sweetened condensed milk mixed with vinegar.
• Original marketers of the kiwi fruit (came from China).
• Feijoas (also not native, but they really like them here).

North Island by the Numbers

We found the winter weather (cold, cloudy, and rainy) to be a bit annoying, so kinda hustled through the North Island. Here are some interesting statistics about travels through NZ's more populous northern half.

For an interactive map, visit this link: https://goo.gl/maps/JxEQ4WvPAhr

• Time
  • Time zone:
    • UTC+12:00
    • DOES participates in DST.
  • Day entered: 4-Dec-2017
  • Day left: 26-Dec-2017
  • Day entered: 21-Apr-2018
  • Day left: 19-Jun-2018
  • Total # of days: 82
    • Nights slept in van: 72
    • Nights slept in tent: 0
    • Nights slept in hotel/etc.: 9
    • Nights paying for lodging: 18 (does not include places where purchased passes were used)
• Distance
  • Driven: ~11,234.5 km (~7,021.6 miles)
  • Hiked: 154.3 km (96.5 miles)

  Date	Location	Description	Distance (km)	Distance (mi)
  12/7/2017	Maungauika/North Head Historic Reserve	Tunnels Loop	1.00	0.63
  12/9/2017	Rangitoto Island Scenic Reserve	Summit Track	3.00	1.88
  12/9/2017	Rangitoto Island Scenic Reserve	Crater Circuit	1.00	0.63
  12/9/2017	Rangitoto Island Scenic Reserve	Kidney Fern Glen	0.40	0.25
  12/9/2017	Rangitoto Island Scenic Reserve	Lava Caves	0.80	0.50
  12/9/2017	Rangitoto Island Scenic Reserve	Wilson's Park	1.50	0.94
  12/10/2017	Cornwall Park	One Tree Hill	3.50	2.19
  12/17/2017	Rotorua	Kuiriau Park	2.50	1.56
  12/17/2017	Okere Falls Scenic Reserve	Okere Falls Track	3.00	1.88
  12/20/2017	Wairakei Tourist Park	Craters of the Moon	3.00	1.88
  12/20/2017	Tauhara Forest	Mt Tauhara Summit	5.00	3.13
  12/23/2017	Coromandel Forest Park	The Pinnacles	10.40	6.50
  12/25/2017	Tongariro NP	Taranaki Falls	6.20	3.88
  4/23/2018	Otari-Wilton's Bush	Rimu Walk	2.00	1.25
  4/23/2018	Putangirua Pinnacles Scenic Reserve	Stream bed track	3.00	1.88
  4/24/2018	Kaitoke Regional Park	Rivendell	0.45	0.28
  4/26/2018	Manawatu Gorge Scenic Reserve	Tawa Loop Walk	4.20	2.63
  4/28/2018	Castlepoint	Lighthouse Walk	1.30	0.81
  4/28/2018	Castlepoint	Deliverance Cove Walkway	3.96	2.48
  5/9/2018	East Coast	East Cape Lighthouse	1.24	0.78
  5/11/2018	Mahia Peninsula Scenic Reserve	Peninsula Walkway	4.00	2.50
  5/12/2018	Te Urewera NP	Lou's Lookout	1.00	0.63
  5/13/2018	Te Urewera NP	Aniwaniwa Falls Track	1.00	0.63
  5/13/2018	Te Urewera NP	Hinerau Walk	1.10	0.69
  5/13/2018	Te Urewera NP	Tawa Walk	1.70	1.06
  5/13/2018	Te Urewera NP	Rata Walk	0.48	0.30
  5/13/2018	Te Urewera NP	Lake Waikareiti	7.00	4.38
  5/17/2018	Kaimanawa Forest Park	Tree Trunk Gorge	2.00	1.25
  5/21/2018	Waitomo	Raukuri Bushwalk	1.25	0.78
  5/21/2018	Waitomo	Mangapohue Arch	2.25	1.41
  5/21/2018	Waitomo	Marokopa Falls	0.46	0.29
  5/24/2018	Coromandel Forest Park	Coromandel Walkway	4.20	2.63
  5/24/2018	Coromandel Forest Park	Waiu Kauri Grove	1.00	0.63
  5/24/2018	Coromandel Forest Park	Cathedral Cove	4.00	2.50
  5/26/2018	Coromandel Forest Park	Collins Drive	4.00	2.50
  5/27/2018	Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park	Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway	2.50	1.56
  5/28/2018	Coromandel Forest Park	Kaueranga Kauri Trail	11.40	7.13
  5/30/2018	Tiritiri Matangi Island	Wanderings	3.00	1.88
  5/31/2018	Tiritiri Matangi Island	Wanderings	7.00	4.38
  6/1/2018	Waipu	Mangawhai Cliffs	3.00	1.88
  6/2/2018	Whangarei	Quarry Gardens	0.80	0.50
  6/3/2018	Ruapekapeka Pa	Track	1.40	0.88
  6/4/2018	Gumdiggers Park	Walks	2.00	1.25
  6/6/2018	Omahuta Forest Park	Kauri Sanctuary	1.00	0.63
  6/7/2018	Waipoua Kauri Forest	Tane Mahuta	0.33	0.21
  6/7/2018	Waipoua Kauri Forest	Kauri Walks	4.14	2.59
  6/9/2018	Tongariro NP	Tongariro Alpine Crossing	17.90	11.19
  6/11/2018	New Plymouth	Pukeiti Gardens	0.76	0.48
  6/13/2018	Rainbow Mountain Scenic Reserve	Summit Walk	6.20	3.88

  • Fuel fill-ups: 19
• Money
• Total spent: $3,806.91 USD ($5,214.94 NZD)
• Consists of the costs of traveling full time in the North Island
• Does not include gear or van conversion costs
• Does include 1 ferry crossing
• Does not include shipping costs
• Average cost per day: $46.43 USD ($63.60 NZD)
• Average cost of diesel: $1.259 NZD per liter ($3.478 USD per gallon)
• National Parks visited: 5
• Ben Boyd
• Te Urewera
• Tongariro
• Whanganui
• Egmont

Interesting observations about the North Island:

1. It has over 3/4s of the population, about 3.677 million residents.
2. It only has 12 main urban areas, only 6 of them are officially considered cities.
3. The population density is about 32.3/km² (83.7/sq mi).
4. It is the 14 largest island in the world.
5. It houses 5 of NZ’s 14 national parks.

Leaving NZ

"What?!?! You are leaving already? Why are you leaving in June? Weren't you planning on sticking around until August? What is with the change in plan?" Well, the weather was getting to us. My mother has a saying about winter, "If it's not snowing, blowing, or negative [temperatures], it's good!" And, while I agree with that statement, we (especially Jen) were really just not enjoying ourselves much with the constant rain, especially since our daily routine often takes us to the outdoors. Apparently we weren't just being wimps, the weather was actually much more rainy and cloudy than normal.

The final, but definitely not the simplest task, was shipping the van.  This time around, we would be loading the van ourselves.  Previously, our service has done the loading, as we were sharing a container.  First up was installing the shipping wheels.  Our factory jack finally died during this process.  It could have been worse, being NZ, it could have been pouring rain!


Loading with the steel shipping wheels is tough.  They have very little traction.  Of course, our service had gotten a single door container, so we couldn’t just pull it through. 


We eventually got it loaded though.  It is a tight fit! 


Our part done, we changed clothes, caught an Uber to the airport, and started the long trip home flying out on the 19th of June. 

Our first layover was half a day in Honolulu. A bit warm, but otherwise a nice stop (minus the jet lag).  After weeks languishing in our wardrobe, we got to wear some shorts again!  With a few hours to burn, we visited the Pearl Harbor Museum, got some lunch, and generally tried to avoid falling asleep. 
















From here it was another full day flying, and two flights. No delays and catching the first flight out every time, and we arrived in Missouri in the late morning.  Only 36 hours after we left Auckland. 

Our plans were to pick up the van in LA in 5 weeks, and spend some time on the west of North America.