Paul and Tracey Carter have worked in the UK travel industry for over 40 years, having met during the big Hoover free flights promotion in 1993. Now recently retired with Tracey co-owning 13 agencies, Carrick Travel with Paul, managing one of them – they wanted to use their time to see the world that they had been selling for all those years… and first on the list was 9-weeks travelling to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Who better to come to, to book their holiday… well the Australasia experts, ANZCRO!
Please take the time to read about their incredible trip in their words. If you haven’t read it yet, the first part of this series called Travel Agents Down Under Part 1 – Australia was published last week.
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Part 2 – New Zealand
Destinations visited: Auckland, Hokianga, Paihia, Hobbiton, Rotorua, Napier, Wellington, Marlborough Sounds, Kaikoura, Akaroa, Dunedin, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Wanaka, Franz Josef, Christchurch
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Arriving in Auckland, we collected our rental car from the airport and made our way towards our accommodation in the city centre. It had been a long and tiring day.
The first part of our New Zealand journey took us to the region of Northland, located, well, north of Auckland (who could’ve guessed?). Our stops included stays at Hokianga and Paihia, towns that are both rich in Māori heritage and boasting natural beauty. Hokianga being our first stop was our introduction to what we were going to expect for the next four weeks. Despite Hokianga being a tiny town, we were quite speechless with its breathtaking views of the bay and insist on making it a stop while traveling the North Island. While Hokianga introduced us to Māori culture and the spiritual significance of the area through excursions like the Footprints Waipoua & Crossings Twilight Encounter, where we met the oldest and largest Kauri tree in the world, Tane Mahuta; Paihia took us through coastal journeys, cruising through the Bay of Islands, witnessing marine life, and exploring the iconic Hole in the Rock.
We treasured our time in Northland, but it was time to return to the vibrant city of Auckland and spend the day exploring, including a mandatory visit to the Sky Tower. We only spent one day in Auckland as the next day took us on a journey to The Shire… We were unsure about visiting Hobbiton at first as neither of us had read the books or watched the films. However, we were pleasantly surprised with all that Hobbiton had to offer. Through a guided tour of the picturesque 12-acre site with a knowledgeable guide, we left middle-Earth knowing everything we could about the books and trilogies. This tour is absolutely A MUST.
Our next leg of the journey took us down to Rotorua or “smelly Rotorua” as I referred to it. We spent our next few days catching up with an old friend who gave us a personal guided tour of the city as well as a morning walk through suspended bridges amongst the Redwood trees.
For our final destinations on the North Island before uncovering the splendour of the South, we had two more stops in Napier and Wellington. We hit a stroke of luck again when arriving in Napier as it so happened to be the annual weekend commemoration of the earthquake disaster that occurred back in the 20s, which resulted in Napier rebuilding in its renowned art deco style. Everybody was dressed in 20s style clothes, drove around in 20s automobiles, and had bands playing and people picnicking Great Gatsby style in the gardens. It was a truly fantastic weekend and paired perfectly with our Art Deco Morning City Stroll Guided Walk experience.
Our final North Island stop, Wellington, was once again greeted with a familiar face as we reconnected with an old school friend. Our next few days were spent exploring the nation’s windy capital. We discovered an amazing 1st World War exhibition at City Hall, rode the Cable Car up to its stunning city viewpoint and then enjoyed a downhill walk through the botanical gardens, visited the home of the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Beehive, and enjoyed a classic New Zealand BBQ at the home of our old friend. What a way to end our time in the North Island.
The Interislander Ferry took us on a three-hour journey to Picton. Upon our arrival, we made our way to the water-taxi parking lot (I cannot stress enough how important it was to get to that parking lot with enough time beforehand as it is the most confusing car park in all of New Zealand). Another boat ride into the Marlborough Sounds transported us to a realm of tranquillity as we spent our days immersed in breathtaking scenery and simple quietness. We were both ready for some very little to do, and that’s exactly what we did. We took a very deep breath. Thanks.
After a relaxing rest encapsulated within the ancient rivers of the Sounds, we were transported back to the real world, collected our car, and made our way to an overcast Kaikoura. Our next day was met with blazing sunshine, which was extremely ideal as it was whale watching day. We managed to upgrade our ticket to VIP status for an extra $20 NZD, which was well worth it as it granted us access to a better view and commentary from a marine expert. We were lucky to see Sperm and Pilot Whales and numerous different seabirds including the Royal Albatross. Afterwards, we drove to Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa where we spent the rest of the day unwinding.
Akaroa was next on the itinerary for us. We enjoyed a small stay there as we journeyed south. Although our time spent there was short, the impression Akaroa left was large, it is quite worth the visit. Our next stop led us to Dunedin, a university city that is rich in Scottish architecture and abundant in marine wildlife, which we enjoyed viewing and learning about on our Wellers Rock Wildlife Cruise. Our next few days took us through Te Anau and the Milford Sound, marvelling at the breathtaking fjords and savouring our short but spectacular visit.
Our days of short stops finally landed us in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. We spent three days there enjoying the beautiful scenery, great vibes, amazing restaurants, and lots of people all out enjoying the summer sunshine. Another MUST.
It was finally time for us to enter the final stretch of our Australia and New Zealand journey as we started the drive back towards the top of the south. We strategically stayed for a night in Wanaka to break up the journey between Queenstown and Franz Josef, finally landing ourselves in glacier country. After all our good luck on our journey so far, we ran into some bad luck. We were supposed to spend my birthday in the skies, soaring over glacial formations in a scenic helicopter flight. However, due to bad weather, it had to be cancelled. Luckily, we were rebooked bright and early the following morning, and luck was back on our side as we were greeted with clear blue skies. We marvelled at the snow-capped mountains and stunning surrounding scenery and enjoyed a short snowball fight atop a glacier. After our flight had ended, it was onto Greymouth to return our rental car and then board the world’s most scenic rail journey, the TranzAlpine, traversing to Christchurch – the final destination of our journey.
After spending our last few days exploring the rebuilding city of Christchurch, we were finally ready to say goodbye to New Zealand as we were transferred back to the airport ready to finish our long journey in Langkawi and then finally, back to England.
Thank you to everyone that has been a part of our amazing trip, especially to Sarah Capp who, along with me, put this all together and most of all to my gorgeous wife, Tracey, who put up with me for 9 long weeks. Here’s to the next adventure!
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Thanks so much Paul and Tracey for sharing your trip with us.
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Paul and Tracey’s New Zealand Stays:
- The Chancellor on Hobson, Auckland
- The Sands Hotel, Hokianga
- Breakwater Motel, Paihia
- Regent of Rotorua Boutique Hotel, Rotorua
- Harbour View Seaside, Napier
- Atura Wellington, Wellington
- Furneaux Lodge, Marlborough Sounds
- The White Morph, Kaikoura
- Hanmer Springs Hotel, Hanmer Springs
- Go Kiwi, Akaroa
- Scenic Hotel Southern Cross, Dunedin
- Distinction Luxmore Hotel, Te Anau
- Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Queenstown
- Edgewater Wanaka, Wanaka
- Glenfern Villas, Franz Josef
- Ramada Suites Christchurch, Christchurch
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