I am not one to have a bucket list, but a trip to New Zealand has long been on the radar. A little over a year ago, we wrote visions for our departments at Ann Arbor Tees. My vision was ambitious yet achievable (ZingTrain would call that strategically sound), and my vision included a trip to New Zealand if I were to have my departments at a level of performance that I could disappear for a few weeks. For those that are into visioning, it is uncanny how often you find success once written and shared. I initially did not plan to follow through on the New Zealand part of the vision, but then my friend James said he was going precisely when when vision had me going. It was meant to be! I am very thankful to the Ann Arbor Tees team for their work in building a great company, and for the leeway to take a few weeks away from the connected world.

My quick summary of New Zealand: everyone is friendly, everything is clean, and everything is beautiful. I now know that this was just my first trip.

As always, my posts are written to document the trip for myself, and hopefully I manage to entertain or inform along the way. I think I will post certain locations individually eventually, as this post got pretty long.

Day 1-2: James, his friend Rick (now collectively known as Rick James) and I flew out of Detroit at 6PM on Wednesday, arrived in Auckland at 8:45AM Friday, after a brief layover at LAX. All said, from my house to our rental van, it was about 20-21 hours. I rarely sleep on planes, but with the nighttime flight I was glad to have slept for about 4 hours. That made our first day in NZ a better one. Both Delta flights were great, and an empty middle seat on the 13 hour LAZ to AKL leg was much appreciated.

Day 3 (Feb 21): Once on the ground in Auckland, we picked up Millie, our campervan from Lucky Rentals (STAY AWAY!!!, more later). None of us had ever rented a van before and did not know what we were getting ourselves into, especially at our lower budget choice of vans. Millie was a smallish white Toyota van, not anything like the Mercedes Sprinter vans one sees plastered across #vanlife Instagram.

Before we could make our way out into nature, we has some town chores to take care of and we headed out to get some groceries and a few camp essentials, and enjoyed a great lunch at Shree, an all veggie Indian Restaurant. The Aloo Masala was amazing (and I managed to avoid vegetables). Then, our trip really began.

Our night one destination was the Waikawau Bay DOC Campground (Department of Conservation). After first enjoying a stop in Coromandel, where we enjoyed walking the town, stopping by the farmer’s market, and enjoyed a local brew at UMU cafe. We also stopped for a quick hike at the Tokatea Hill Lookout. The drive into the campground was absolutely brutal, and I probaly lost an inch of height thanks to Millie’s horrendous suspension (if she even had one). Upon reaching the campground, Rick James quickly decided to join me outside of Millie and set-up their tents. Millie, while advertised to sleep four, might be able to fit a couple that is still young and in lust, but not much room for adults who want to sleep. Rick James swam in the ocean while I captured beautiful sunset reflections on the beach. Google Route: https://maps.app.goo.gl/eYGdyo1s335bogvCA

Day 4 (Feb 22): We slept in and had a late start to the day, and enjoyed a scenic drive back down through the Coromandel peninsula and along the coast down toward the base of the Bay of Plenty. Our day was filled with much debate, as our original plan had us following the cost all the way down to the bottom of the North Island, but talks with locals and a quickly growing weariness of being subjected to the pounding of riding in Millie, we were already debating cutting our mileage back. After a hike amongst the rare, imperiled, and like concrete kauri trees at the Whenuakite Kauri loop track we ended our day at Matata DOC Campground, a position that would allow for many choices the next day. https://maps.app.goo.gl/mMEuCs3pJMPC2eh87

Day 5 (Feb 23): Well, this day did not go as planned. After more discussions with local, we gave up on the idea of following the coast south, and opted instead for an inland route that would allow us more time outside of Millie. Our sights were now set on reaching Tongariro National Park, and discovering what hikes and sights we might find there. While being beaten to a pul in Millie’s back seat, I began to search in desparation for opportunities to be outside of Millie, and as we entered the town of OKere Falls, I asked Rick to take a detour so I could photograph the waterfall while we got a short hike in.

As soon as we turned, we saw a whitewater rafting outfitter, and rather than heading to a nice, peaceful waterfall photo session, we were all of a sudden learning about a rafting trip over said falls. I love being on the river, but I like my paddling calm to moderate and am not a risk taker. For some crazy reason, I agreed to for a quick trip down the river with Kaituna Cascades, led by our great guide Josh from Alabama. We would learn during the trip that we would be running several small and one not so small waterfalls. We would be going over the tallest commercially run waterfall in the world. Not huge by any means but more than I would normally choose to do. The trip went well and while I wish I had my nose plug with me, we managed to stay in the boat even after the vertical drop down the big one. We went down one rapid outside the boat as well. It is safe to say that Rick James had more fun than me, but someone managed to capture a very rare smile on my face, so it must not have been that bad.

After that adventure, life required a beer, and a great one was found at the nearby Okere Falls Store and Craft Beer Garden. The Heyday Raspberry Berliner Weisse was amazing! Food in belly, we continued south, visiting the uninspiring bubbling mud in downtown Rotorua, enjoying some gelato at the Fancy Meow Cat Cafe (but staying far away from any cats). We ended the night at the Discover Lodge camping, which was more upscale than our previous camping spots. https://maps.app.goo.gl/UkJU9WF8a36RNRnE8

Day 6 (Feb 24): This day we got to explore Tongariro National Park, and we hiked the Taranaki Falls Track (4 miles, 365′ gain). This was a beautiful hike, and I got to play around with my camera at the falls for an extended time. We followed that with a great meal at Schnapps Bar, where I enjoyed the Chicken Curry. Our night ended with a power drive down to just north of Wellington, where we would take the ferry to the South Island the next morning. We camped at the very peaceful Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, just feet from a stream that made wonderful sounds all night.

Day 7 (Feb 25): We enjoyed (but maybe not as much as we hoped) the ferry ride to the South Island, which lasted about 3.5 hours. Once off the boat, we stopped for groceries in Blenhein, and made our way to the Nelson Lakes National Park. Here we elected to stay at the Lake Rotoroa DOC campground. I, and to a lesser extend we, enjoyed a nice hike after setting up our tents. I was fortunate, as Rick happens to be a sandfly magnet, and as Lake Rotoroa turned out to be the sandfly capital of the world, Rick saved me much blood. I made a t-shirt to honor the event. https://maps.app.goo.gl/PapC19LLSX3JD7t49

Day 8 (Feb 26): This would be our first zero day, where we would stay at Nelson Lakes National Park, and not break down camp and move. This was a very nice break from our tormentor, Millie the campervan. After enjoying the morning views of Lake Rotoroa, we headed over to Lake Rotoiti and hiked the Brunner Peninsula Track, and while Rick James swam, I added on the Black Hill Track (6.8 miles, 550′ gain). We followed that up with pizza at the Alpine Lodge. By this time, Millie’s inability to charge my camera left me shooting with my phone alone. https://maps.app.goo.gl/vt1eWi7FWJvzJN8m6

Day 9 (Feb 27): At this point in the trip, I was in need of some much needed alone time. Had to recharge my introvert battery! The plan for Rick James was to hike the Mt. Roberts Circuit and continue on with a hike around Lake Rotoiti to the Lakehead Hut, where they would stay the night and hike out in the morning. Given my need to recharge, I chose not to sleep in a hut with a bunch of people I did not know, and after enjoying the Mt. Roberts Circuit (5.5 miles, 1897′ gain), I moved Millie over to the Kerr Bay DOC Campground, where as the sites were not tent friendly, I had to curl up on Millie’s diminutive bed for the night. Kerr Bay was much nicer than the Lake Rotoroa site in terms of luxuries: cell service, showers, laundry, a kitchen), all of which I used on my day away from the guys.

Day 10 (Feb 28): As Rick James would be half a day hike out from the hut, I enjoyed a morning in St. Arnaud (the town where Lake Rotoiti is), starting with eggs on toast at the NPD St Arnaud Alpine Store & Cafe, and then reading lakeside and watching old boats arrive for a weekend event. Once the guys made it back, we moseyed over to Klondyke Corner Campsite in Arthur’s Pass National Park. https://maps.app.goo.gl/PoA8be1XtzbmPvUA6

Day 11 (March 1): Our day started with breakfast at the campsite, and a bit of tidying up of our belongings in Millie. We then ventured up to Arthurs Pass National Park and a short hike to Devil’s Punchbowl Falls. Then it was on to Christchurch, where we cut our rental of Millie two weeks short. We felt bad for ole Millie, but we felt worse for our backs and feared mightily for our safety. No partial refund was offered, so it will be up to Visa to decide if our return of an unsafe vehicle was appropriate. I then rented my own car, and Rick James did the same. Two cars would allow me the freedom to get moving a bit earlier in the day, and as my trip would end before theirs, it gave me the freedom to move on toward my return flight without impacting their plans. Our destination for the night was the Peel Forest Park Scenic Reserve DOC Campground. https://maps.app.goo.gl/29F64NjUoThMKNSG6

Day 12 (March 2): Having been spoiled by nicer campgrounds, selecting sites with a few more amenities, yet still rather rustic in feel became our norm. Peel Forest had wifi, showers, and a kitchen, and generous site spacing. A great campground! With my newfound freedom, I was up and packed early, and had a bit of time to enjoy one of the trails that start near the campground. As I love waterfalls, I chose the Acland Falls Track. where I had the falls to myself for the 30 minutes I chose to stay. Many pictures were taken. My curiosity of “I wonder where this road goes” led me on a couple hour wander up the dead end road past the campground. I think I could have travelled another couple hours before reaching the actual dead end (or as the sign it in NZ “No Exit”). Rangitata Gorge Road was a wonderful rural jaunt along a river and past many sheep stations (farms). After dropping by the campground and finding Rick James not quite ready to head out, I moved on and travelled solo the rest of the day. On my way out of Peel Forest, I hiked the Big Tree Walk, and then made my way to Aoraki / Mt. Cook National Park, stopping for the night along Lake Pukaki at the Glenntanner Park Holiday Park (“Holiday Parks” are nicer private campgrounds, usually with a lodge also). I set up my tent with a nice view of the mountains out of the door and enjoyed another nice hot shower before bed. While there was no rain in the forest, the mountain makes her own weather they say, and the pitter patter of rain made sleep even nicer.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZDNYbwRSJfstyq2TA

Day 13 (March 3): What an amazing day for a hike at Mount Cook National Park! After meeting up again with Rick James, we tackled our most amazing hike yet, the Hooker Valley Track (6.8 miles, 646′ gain). The mist, clouds and rain set a perfect scene, and we donned our rain gear (and I left my good camera behind). This is a can’t miss hike to be sure, especially on a moody day. We stopped for food at Chamois (meh), then it was back to Glentanner Park for camping and taking notes. While we did not know it at the time, this was my last day with James & Rick, as I needed to start moving toward my eventual flight out of Christchurch. https://maps.app.goo.gl/oqauWJWYx4y9soGb6

Day 14 (March 4): Today was a town chore day for me, as I stopped in Queenstown for shopping and laundry. Once that was complete, I continued south toward Milford Sound, stopping for the night at the Cascade Creek DOC Campground. This is the last campground before the end of the road and the boat tours, and is more like an animal pen at a stockyard than a campground. But, it had space for a tent and had a pit toilet, so it worked well enough. https://maps.app.goo.gl/wcWwzwmbyTSu3n6XA

Day 15: (March 5): This day’s focus was the much anticipated Milford Sound boat tour with Cruise Milford. I had hoped to also do the Doubtful Sound Tour but did not make a reservation, which proved fatal to that idea. After the cruise I walked around Te Anau, and enjoyed Indian food at Radha’s Indian Restaurant. After considerable time waffling about where to go next, I decided that less driving sounded good, and hiked and camped at nearby Mavora Lakes DOC. https://maps.app.goo.gl/6CtchaS4Rq6uyKZm7

Day 16 (March 6): This is the point in the trip where I realized that splitting off from Rick James may have allowed me to cover more ground, but that ground was covered by car, more than the by foot that the guys were enjoying. My desire to get early starts to the day may not have resulted in actually “doing” more. After breaking down camp, I drive down to Bluff and hiked the Costal Hike, then started south along the Southern Scenic Route. While the ground covered was in a car, the scenery was outstanding. I stopped at Niagra Falls (not quite as expected), hiked the McLean Falls Track, and enjoyed the views at Tautuka Beach and the Florence Hill Lookout. I ended the day in a real bed in a tiny cabin at Lake Waihola Holiday Park. https://maps.app.goo.gl/imCPFjd99v1HJTx87

Day 17 (March 7): Today’s goal was to make it close to Christchurch, as my flight home would be the next day. I continued along the Southern Scenic Route to Dunedin, hiking the Huriawa Pā Walk, and stopping to take lots of farm, hill, and sea pictures. I intended to end my day back at Peel Forest DOC Camground, and I did set me tent up, but as the rain git harder and my tent got wetter, I decided to spend the night in a real bed, and so I moved along to The Suites at Ashburton. https://maps.app.goo.gl/JPD7Hw3YeoiNctCL7

Day 18 (March 8): Today I relaxed, watch a Michigan women’s basketball game, and browsed downtown Christchurch, then flew from Christchurch to Auckland and hopped a shuttle to the JetPark Hotel.

Day 19 (March 9): This was a 30 hour day that only registered a couple hours on the calendar, as after watching another game, I made my way to the Auckland airport for my 12 hour flight to LAX, then a couple hour layover and a 4 hour flight to DTW. It was good to be home and I am ready to go back!