We had something we wanted to do before we started a family: go to New Zealand and Australia. Freshly married, so young, and DINKs (dual income, no kids), way back in 2008 we took off and landed in Auckland, ready to spend three weeks between the North Island and Australia.Â
Before smartphones, individual TV screens in each airplane seat, and Internet blogs, we were armed with some Lonely Planet books and unbridled enthusiasm.
Blink too quickly and here we are today, with a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old alongside soccer games and high school driving lessons. We know that the trip we took will never be repeated by anyone. That’s what makes travel so brilliant – we can never have the same experience twice and no one can ever repeat what we saw.
Much of what I feel now, when I look back on what we did, on our decision to spend the money and the vacation hours to go, is how slippery time is. A side lesson is how hard it is to find the delicate balance between saving for a future we can’t know and living life as it is here. Sometimes, making the best decision at the time requires risk, and it’s always hard to assess that risk against an unseeable future.
We knew we wanted to go to Oceania and see these two amazing countries. We also knew it was a plane ride literally across the globe, and one we didn’t see ourselves making with kids. I don’t know if we were smart with our decision-making, but I feel so grateful we decided to do it when we did.
New Zealand and Australia would, obviously, be wonderful to take teenage boys to! But regardless of how fun my kids are, it is still a very long and very expensive flight.
Plus, the thing I keep coming around to when it comes to travel is that the world is so big. I am a traveler who doesn’t want to travel to the same place twice since there is so much to see and experience all over. I am not a check-in-the-box traveler, but I am in love with nearly all of the world and want to see as many interesting things as I can. To have had the foresight to see New Zealand before life changed so drastically and dramatically once we had kids ended up being one of the best things we did.
Mr. Family Trip and I hold this wonderful memory of what it was like traipsing around, relying on each other and seeing the world. Trips like this (and another magical experience we had as DINKs in Mallorca) made us realize we like traveling together and we look forward to doing many more adventures like New Zealand in our future as empty nesters. Not that I am pushing my babies out of the nest – but again, time is a slippery thing, and before you know it, it will just be me and Mr. Family Trip looking at each other over a quiet breakfast table, deciding how to spend the day. Plus, let’s admit it: traveling with kids (no matter their age) is just a different experience.
Preamble aside –
The question is: was hauling off to New Zealand and Australia worth it? And what do we remember about New Zealand today, over 15 years later?Â
What we did in New Zealand that we'd recommend today
Auckland: Sky Tower, Food, Views & Group Fitness Mecca
Bet you didn’t see that last bit coming. I have been a Les Mills fitness fan for a very long time. See this post here for how I use it in my life now, but I taught BodyPump, BodyJam, Sh’Bam, and BodyAttack for close to 20 years. Today, the On Demand program operates like Peloton and going to take classes in Auckland with celebrity trainers was pretty cool. I took classes with instructors who had been motivating me for decades, and it was powerful for me.
But for those of you (like Mr. Family Trip) that aren’t into group fitness meccas…
There are still a lot of fun things to see and do in Auckland!
The thing I remember the most was making a reservation and paying the money to dine in the Sky Tower. We walked all over Auckland, seeing and doing. But something about going up in a tower that gives you time to take in the views of the entire city can’t be replicated and is always memorable (see here and here, for example).
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You can bungee off the Sky Tower too, if you want. It was a wild experience to be dining and see someone suddenly falling outside the window.
We weren’t in Auckland too terribly long, and we saw other things, but the Sky Tower is what stands out the most. (Despite some of the judgement on this activity out there on the Internet, remember that sometimes the most touristy things are touristy for a good reason and worth doing.)
Auckland city sits on two large harbors, and there are gorgeous yachts to ogle at. There are delicious restaurants throughout the city, and we had fun exploring various bars and walking along the water.
Visiting Wineries - and the gorgeous views
It is hard to think of a trip to New Zealand without seeing some wineries. While Americans don’t drink much New Zealand wine as imports, it was fun to explore the wineries and we were really impressed with what we tried!
At the recommendation of some friends who had been to New Zealand before, we decided to head to Cable Bay Vineyards. This winery is located on Waiheke Island, outside of Auckland.
From Auckland, it is a 35-minute ferry ride to the Matiatia Ferry Terminal, then a quick walk to the vineyard.
When we arrived on the island, it was misty and rainy. But things cleared quickly. We sampled wines, walked around, ate, and found that being on an island (an island of an island, nevertheless) in such a beautiful setting was priceless.
The scenic Drives
Since Mr. Family Trip and I are both from Virginia (and recently moved back to the Blue Ridge Mountains), you would think that rolling pasturelands with cows and sheep grazing wouldn’t excite us much.
But 15 years later, some of my most sparkling memories of New Zealand are the hours of driving we did staring out at the lush, bright green landscapes. New Zealand was gorgeous and getting out of the city a must.
The Sailing Trip!
We didn’t make it to New Zealand’s South Island because we decided to do this instead: sail!
Mr. Family Trip and I took sailing lessons together early in our relationship (it didn’t stick, though, since sailing as a hobby is ridiculously expensive and you need access to, oh, a BOAT!). We have always loved being out on the water. So we hunted around (remember: we were booking our trip using books and long-distance calling from America) and booked ourselves a sailing trip.
This New Zealand sailing company looks very similar to what we did – nights on board a sailboat, with a full day of sailing.
Our captain met us in the evening and welcomed us on board, where we stayed in the anchored boat in the harbor while our captain returned home. The next day, we were reunited and under sail bright and early. We kayaked from the sailing boat, and sailed wherever the wind took us. Of course, it was amazing.
While we didn’t get to spend as much time living on a sailboat as we want, to have seen New Zealand from the water, to understand the islands and the coastline, was such a gift.
Going to Rotorua (of course)
This is likely the top thing to do on the North Island of New Zealand. And, of course, we did it, too!
At the time, there wasn’t a ton of infrastructure since most of the “tourists” were backpacking twenty-year-olds. We stayed in a hostel much like this one and were comfortable. At night, there was quite a scene of partying and shots of New Zealand vodka. I can imagine that things have changed – well, maybe all that still exists so perhaps it’s just that things have been added to that scene.
Seeing Rotorua and the geothermal activity there was interesting. But we’ve since been to Yellowstone and Iceland – geysers and hotpots exist all over the world. What sticks with me most today about Rotorua was the importance of this area to the Maori culture.
While in Rotorua, we attended what was obviously a very tourist-centric cultural show on the Maoris and their connection to Rotorua. And, again, even though it was designed for tourists, I remember it a lot still today! I couldn’t imagine heading to Rotorua and not taking time to honor and learn about the Maori.
To me, traveling is always worth it – I can’t think of a single trip I have regretted taking, even when things haven’t gone to plan. But it is interesting to sit back and think about the things that really affected us from a trip a decade later. What gets into our psyche and fundamentally shapes up? What are the experiences we have that end up being the stories we tell as part of our life’s tapestry years later? And how can these trips with the people we love firm and cement the best of the relationships?
It’s as much about the inner journey as it is the outer every time we travel. That’s what makes it so beautiful.