Welcome to the New Zealand recap! I hope you have enjoyed the series thus far, I know that I enjoyed writing it and very much enjoyed experiencing New Zealand. This article serves as an epilogue of sorts to our trip, and as a photo dump. Please enjoy, and share with your friends!
Jenny and I had an absolute blast in New Zealand. Looking back through my journal, I wrote a lot not only about our day to day activities, but also a lot about the way I felt while I was gallivanting around New Zealand with my wife. I think the words that came up the most when describing my emotions while in New Zealand were: peace and simplicity.
Even though we cruised through New Zealand at a break-neck pace, I felt completely at peace, especially after we started the South Island part of our adventure. We covered almost the entire country from top to bottom, North to South in a matter of a week and a half. Trying to cover just a single city anywhere else in the world would not have felt peaceful. To me, it felt like the country grabbed me and slowed me down with a familiar embrace.
We had moments that stopped me in my tracks, scents that brought tears to my eyes, and views that snatched my breath away. The first of these experiences was after we stepped off the tour bus and started down the trail toward Hobbiton. As Jenny and I walked down the tree-lined trail behind the tour guide with a busload of tourists trailing us, the scent of woodsmoke drifted into my nostrils. Then the trees gave way to Hobbiton and the combination of the idyllic scenery and the soothing campfire smoke stirred something in me that made my eyes just a little misty.
The emotional rush wasn’t because I am a particularly huge Lord of the Rings or Hobbit fan. Sure, I read the books and I watched the movies, but I don’t think I spend more time thinking about the books or the movies than the average guy. What I attribute the swell of emotion to instead was the immediate peace that flooded in. Hobbiton stirred up the strongest desire to run away from the city and never return. Instead of returning to computers and jobs, Jenny and I would just spend the rest of our days tending to a garden, fishing, hunting, and spending our evenings together by the fire reading books.
Maybe we would throw a party for our neighbors every now and then. Perhaps we would spend our evenings walking to the neighborhood pub to share pints of cider and ale. Either way, life would be simpler.
When we arrived on the South Island, I felt completely at ease the entire time. That feeling of ease persisted, even driving on the wrong side of the road, sitting on the wrong side of the camper van. Jenny and I frequently were the only ones on the road, and even when we did see people it was never more than a few at a time. Except when we were in Te Anua and it appeared every tourist on the South Island was visiting at the same time.
One of the things that made New Zealand so relaxing was its familiarity. The landscapes in New Zealand are unique, but they felt familiar. At different stops during our trip, I felt like we were visiting the Rocky Mountains, New England fishing villages, Minnesota forests and lakes, and Kansas prairies. We saw all these types of biomes within hours of one another, often on the same day. That familiarity made me feel at home while being about as far away as possible.
I have traveled all over the world, for work and for fun. Never have I visited a place and felt at home there. In New Zealand, however, I felt like we were at home right from the jump. Small, tight-knit communities, friendly people, and beautiful scenery. There is even a pretty lively hunting community, which vibes well with my other hobbies.
Perhaps the feeling of peace and simplicity was because neither Jenny or I had to work while we were in New Zealand. Our only goal was to explore as much as possible in a short period of time. Maybe those feelings were the result of seeing far more sheep and cattle than people during our trip. Perhaps it was high time for us to escape from the urban decay we had been living in for the past several years.
Even our brushes with civilization seemed slower, more relaxed. I mentioned before that Te Anua was absolutely packed when we got there, but even then nobody seemed to be too bothered or in a hurry. The same was true in Hokitika, Tekapo, and Queenstown. Perhaps the clean streets, ready access to fresh air and hiking, and good, simple food kept everyone relaxed and friendly.
Whatever the reason, visiting New Zealand was exciting, but peaceful. Exotic, but familiar. The entire country was breathtaking, and our time there was entirely too short. I can’t wait to get back there sometime to explore the rest of the country.
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