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As the end of my first semester in Osaka rolled around in January, I realised I had 7 weeks of holiday to fill with whatever I desired before the second semester began in April. And so of course I decided that 4 of these weeks would be best spent doing my number 1 bucket list activity since I was 5: backpacking around New Zealand!
Now usually, I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I plan my backpacking trips down to a T: booking every hostel, every train and every bus long in advance with a packed day-to-day itinerary for the whole trip. But this time, I wanted to try something different. You always hear stories about people freely backpacking around New Zealand, and I thought, why not? So, I booked my flight into Auckland and the return from Christchurch, leaving me to make my way down through the North and then South Islands at my own pace and take things as they come.
This approach to travelling was overwhelming at first, but I really appreciated the freedom when I could extend my stay in Auckland for a day to explore the beaches more, and then to allow me to take my time around the North Island after a knee injury 3 days in (oops…). Oh, and an impromptu trip to Napier to visit the National Aquarium! This was where I saw my first kiwi bird – the national bird of New Zealand. Kiwis are tricky to spot since they’re nocturnal, so their enclosures are kept dark, but this is still much easier than spotting them in the wild! The flexible Intercity bus passes also made this easy (think Interrail/Eurail style), even including tours to normally very expensive, out-of-the-way locations.
But if there’s one thing I wish I knew sooner, it’s that regional public transport in New Zealand is really… not great, and it’s quite hard to get around (the South Island especially) without a car, with really long journeys between stops and limitations on destinations. Definitely worth factoring in to make the most of your time in New Zealand if you don’t want to spend half your holiday on a bus!
Now, onto the first stop: Auckland. This was my introduction to the North Island, and possibly the most special stop on my trip; my mum was born and grew up in Auckland, so I wanted to see where she spent her time as a child and really get to understand her love for New Zealand. I met with some of her old neighbours who showed me around the area: her childhood home, the reserve where she used to look for eels in the river, and the beach where she always used to play. The feeling is really hard to describe, but it really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I miss the connection I felt to the area and her stories and memories attached to it.
Auckland has about 50 volcanic cones or craters dotted around the city and its waterways, which provide many a good sunset watching spot. Another stand out moment to me was my first long walk (of which I did many in New Zealand) – 8 hours walking along the north coastline! The scenes were gorgeous, but I managed to injure my knee doing so, which lasted for the next 3 weeks of my trip.
Next, I went to Rotorua: Rotorua is the Māori cultural capital for visitors to New Zealand, with several Māori villages you can look around. I got a tour from a Māori resident in the main village providing insight into the different facilities and buildings and their historical and current cultural uses which was fascinating. New Zealand is a good example of a country that has made significant progress in making reparations towards the indigenous groups: walking around, you notice a lot of (if not all) place names, signs and train announcements are also in Te Reo Māori, and there is a clear reverence for Māori culture and preservation of their sacred sites amongst most of Kiwi society. Unfortunately, the newly elected government seems to be taking backwards steps.
Rotorua is also home to a lot of amazing geothermal features, from hot mudpools and lakes to huge geysers. I am super interested in tectonic features and hazards, so this was a massive draw for me. Warning – this does mean there is a pretty constant sulphur (rotten eggs) smell around Rotorua, so if you’re not used to that then be prepared!
I also did a long walk up from Taupo to Huka Falls and Aratiatia Rapids (which was used in one of The Hobbit movies). The water was such a beautiful turquoise, it felt like I was in a tropical forest!
The rest of my main stops on the North Island were in cities: Napier, renowned for its Art Deco architecture and the National Aquarium, and Wellington, the capital city. One of the stand-out moments in Wellington for me was Zealandia, a huge natural reserve for native New Zealand plants, birds, lizards and more. Walking through the forests the sound of birdsong and insects chirping was overwhelming, but it was a great escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
From Wellington, I took the cruise to the entrance point on the South Island: Picton. Picton itself is unextraordinary, but the cruise journey through the Queen Charlotte Sound was definitely worth it. Sea sickness aside, the views of the Sound are amazing and worth the extra few hours compared to a flight!
Moving on from Picton, I stopped at the nearby township of Nelson. Nelson itself is also fairly unremarkable, often resembling a British high street more than anything else, but it’s the gateway for visiting Abel Tasman. Named after the Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman is New Zealand’s smallest national park and one of the warmest places on the South Island. It is especially known for its 60km-long coastal track, dotted with hills, tropical forests and golden beaches.
Coming from the Peak District, I’m a huge lover of walks and hikes, so I of course had to visit. I chose to do a one-day walk along one section of the coastal track since that was all I had time for in my itinerary (not to mention the price since you have to get a shuttle bus and boats to drop you off and pick you up from the park!). The hills were challenging with an injured knee and in the glaring New Zealand sun (seriously, the sunburn in New Zealand is on a whole other level), especially on a time limit so the boat didn’t leave me behind, but the nature was so stunning it was worth it. We even got to see seals!
With only a week left to go, I had to quickly make my way across the rest of the South Island to make my flight home from Christchurch, so I made a quick pitstop at Franz Josef on the way to Queenstown. Although I didn’t have time to actually go up the Franz Josef glacier, the views from the little town at its base still took my breath away.
Now Queenstown may be known as the adventure capital of New Zealand – bungee jumping, skydiving, you name it – but being risk averse myself, I wanted to instead use it as a base to visit a few of the other special locations included on my bus pass. The first day, I visited Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand at 12,218 feet. We were dropped off at the base to explore several of the walking paths available to us during the 3-hour period – I chose to hike first to the main nearby viewing point at Kea Point, then back down and round to Mueller Lake (the glacial lake). I even heard a small avalanche!
Though the trek was absolutely worth it, I definitely should have managed my time better: I misjudged the time the second track would take and found myself with a 30-minute walk back to the bus stop with only 20 minutes to go, unless I wanted to find myself stranded at the mountain! I ended up having to literally run through a field of tall grass and dirt mounds for 15 minutes to make it back just in time, and very out of breath. Definitely an adventure I can look back on and laugh now, but the panic in the moment was very real!
The second day trip was to Milford Sound – now if you’ve seen photos of New Zealand, you will have almost certainly seen Milford Sound before! It’s an incredibly picturesque fjord surrounded by towering mountains and waterfalls. The journey from Queenstown was very long (think nearly 7 hours!), but our bus driver was kind enough to stop at many photo-worthy locations and tell us many interesting stories about them, such as Lakes Wakatipu and Te Anau, the Lindis Pass (the highest point on the South Island’s highways), and several mountains and glaciers on-route to Milford Sound.
When you get onto the Sound itself, the sheer height of the surrounding hills and mountains is incredible – you feel so small in comparison! We managed to go on a day that was very sunny, which was prime for taking photos, but apparently the waterfalls are a lot more beautiful in the rain. Although the boat and the trip to Milford Sound is expensive, I would say it’s a must-see for anyone visiting the South Island. Though I was disappointed with how many of the “unmissable” landscapes on the South Island were actually very similar to what I’d already seen many times in Iceland, or the Alps, Milford Sound was absolutely stunning and went beyond my expectations.
Moving onto my final destination: Christchurch. This was a big change from Queenstown and the Otago region, being the largest coastal city on the South Island and so of course with comparatively very little nature. If you know anything about earthquake history, Christchurch’s name should ring a bell. The city was rocked by two huge earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, destroying around 80% of the city centre and leaving many of the suburban residential areas uninhabitable due to liquefaction of the ground. Being a huge earthquake nerd (one of the main reasons I chose to study in Japan in the first place), I had to visit.
The rebuilding efforts in Christchurch are impressive, and still ongoing: the city’s much-loved cathedral is still under reconstruction 14 years later and many empty lots or uninhabitable buildings can be seen around the city and 8000 acres of residential area were abandoned. These areas – dubbed “The Red Zone” – can still be visited on foot. It almost feels like walking through a post-apocalyptic world, with broken half-dirt, half-gravel roads and falling or fallen street poles, but all the houses completely razed.
However, it isn’t just the physical reconstruction that stand out: the human resilience and efforts of the residents to reclaim their city and make it feel like home again are equally, if not more, impressive. Street art is visible all over the city, reflecting feelings of city identity, strength, and hope. Stories of community non-profit groups setting up interactive activities in abandoned spaces and decorating street furniture with colourful crochet are common.
The human impact of the earthquakes becomes especially apparent hearing the stories of survivors in Quake City, Christchurch’s museum dedicated to the earthquakes, who tell of make-shift evacuations from skyscrapers, being trapped under rubble, and desperate attempts to make contact with children or spouses in the earthquake. This struck a chord, and really reminded me why I want to get into my dream field and do the best I can to help people affected by disasters like these in Christchurch.
By the end of the month, I was exhausted and really craving my own bed and a room free of snoring roommates. So naturally as soon as I got back to Japan, I slept for 22 hours straight!