I remember when I first landed in Melbourne and was shocked by the amount of people and the heat. Turns out it was an abnormally hot day. But still, I encountered people and heat in varying degrees (no pun) on my journey down under.
The cities were big and spread out and had distinct subsections of culture.
I learned what it was like to live either barefoot or in thongs (flip flops). I learned the capital wasn’t Sydney. I learned that there were many breathtaking sunrises and sunsets to be seen.
Initially, I had concerns about all of the dangerous wildlife. Thankfully, I was never stung, bitten or clawed by any of those animals. I never even saw a snake in the wild. Did I? I don’t think so. I did see a few spiders and jellyfish, but nothing that threatened immediate harm.
At first, I had a hard time finding my rhythm. It’s difficult to pinpoint why. It’s not like I had to make a major adjustment or anything. Regardless, I don’t think I really settled in until I was almost a month into my time in Australia. That’s when I understood what was on offer. Traveling up the east coast was mainly about enjoying the beaches and water.
Indian Head Views
I was adopted into a large friend group of ex-pats in Sydney. They were welcoming and generous and gave me a sense of community. It was a kind of security blanket to fall back on if I ever needed it.
Speaking of people, my two marquee experiences were on tour groups. Actually, the main difference between having an awesome time in Australia vs. New Zealand came down to people. In NZ, I had plenty of fun just walking in nature. In Oz, fast friendships made the biggest impact. An interpersonal connection can easily add more value to an adventure. Since I consider myself a low-key extrovert, bonding with a few different groups of people really elevated whatever I was doing. I was fortunate enough to enjoy this on a few occasions.
There will always be something drawing me back to Australia. Part of it will be to visit the central and western areas of the country. The other part…I’m not exactly sure. To sky dive? Maybe. Either that, the crystal blue water or the gorgeous women.
It’s certainly not Vegemite.
“Awe, yeah?” “Yeah, right.”
By the Numbers
Days in Australia: 56 Days at Workaways: 16 Nights in Hostels: 31 Multi-day Tours: 2 Hours in Transit (Bus or Train): ~60 AUD Spent: ~$4,342.18 USD Spent: ~$3,192.78 (Avg conversion rate of roughly 1.36)
For those interested in visiting one day, here’s a list of where I went and how I ranked stuff: (click the top left button of the map to expand the list view)
Favorite Places: 1. Fraser Island 2. Melbourne 3. Whitsundays 4. Byron Bay 5. Brisbane
We forgot to buy coffee at the grocery store. This was a grievous error.
We were out of bed by 6am, on the bus out to Milford Sound by 6:30am and Zack and Hannah were caffeineless. Danger.
The drive out was actually pretty hilarious because they took like 4 separate naps.
Ethan, our driver, was giving us a commentary on the ride and they missed the majority of that.
We were extremely lucky with the weather we were getting though. We made a pit stop at Mirror Lakes because the conditions were perfect. Such still water, the reflection was pristine.
Mirror Lakes
We also passed by Lake Gunn, which looked even better. Unfortunately, we didn’t stop. I regret not asking him to pull over. It would’ve been an epic picture as the water was reflecting the snow-capped mountains in perfect symmetry. The golden light of the morning also gave an amazing contrast to the blue of the sky and the white of the snow. Man, what a scene.
Next, we pulled off to the side of the road where there was a Kea waiting for us. A kea is an alpine parrot species that’s become a somewhat pesky critter since tourists have been feeding them. They’re pretty cute the way they hop around though.
This one was familiar with Ethan apparently. It greeted everyone kindly, apart from Zack. It didn’t like the cut of his jib I guess and ended up biting his toe. Lolz.
This did not have a lasting effect on Zack as he went back to sleep when we boarded the van again.
After another 20-30 minutes drive we got to Deep Water Basin, where our kayak trip was launching.
Two consecutive days on the water was going to be epic. And the weather was even better than the previous day somehow. That’s really saying something because they get like 200 some days of rain in Milford Sound.
We met our guide, Mossimo, and got outfitted with gear.
The good news: GoPros would be in action. The bad news: the sandflies were absolutely everywhere and eating us to bits.
Once we were on the water it was alright but it was straight brutal beforehand.
Everybody else was coupled up, so I got paired with the only other single person – a girl from Slovakia named Makayla. Our boat fucking killed it too. I was steering in the back and we were in perfect synch. A decent amount of our day was spent waiting for some of the stragglers to catch up.
The water was abnormally calm for the first part of the day and the scenery was epic. It really was a redemption song from my first experience.
About an hour into the paddling, Hannah seemed like she was hitting a wall. Hunger and a lack of coffee was getting the better of her. I looked over at one point and she was draped over the kayak. Seemed dead.
It was a little bit of a stop and start situation again because there was one couple that was always lagging behind. We also had to cross a few boat channels which meant rounding up the group. Honestly, in terms of distance we didn’t make it all that far into the sound. If given the opportunity, I think Makayla and I could’ve seen a decent amount more.
The Dream Team
As the afternoon went on, the wind picked up and the water got more choppy.
The rocky beach where we had lunch was an awesome spot though. Hannah was happy once she satisfied the food and caffeine-shaped hole in her stomach.
For as beautiful as the scenery was, the sandflies were nearly intolerable during lunch. I think they’re particularly fond of Western blood because Zack and I were getting demolished. They really should’ve supplied some spray.
Our spot was quickly disappearing as the tide was coming in so we finished eating and got back out there. It wasn’t too far to paddle back to base.
Before we went to shore Mossimo told us the Maori legend of how Milford Sound was created. Kind of a fun tale if you care to read it.
I really enjoyed our time on the water. I’m a big fan of kayaking and rafting in general. With this scenery too, it was hard to be mad.
We shed our gear and then Ethan picked us up to drive us back to Te Anau. We made a few other brief stops on the return.
The Road to Te Anau
Lake Gunn in the Afternoon
The Chasm
It was a long day of being out but a sweet experience. With the extra stops and guiding, we felt like we got more than we paid for which was cool. Ethan did pretty well on tips too, so we joked that the beers were on him.
When we got back, we checked into our new room together (with a bed for me!) and showered up.
We ventured out into the burgeoning metropolis of Te Anau for a meal. Of course, we ran into Ethan at the restaurant. There was a wait for a table so he invited us to join him and a Swedish guy who was on his tour the day before us.
Amazing happenstance. Getting to know both of them was hilarious.
Ethan was like 24 but had been a sponsored BMXer, the skipper of a Marlin charter boat and a gold miner in Canada. He was also a ladies man with some comical stories. For example, he told us how he had a crush on this girl but ended up hooking up with her Mom when he was younger. Those days are apparently behind him now. He said he was ready to settle down and find a long-term relationship.
“Yeah. I’m the kind of guy you can bring home to Mom…Please bring me home to your Mom.”
-Nate Impersonating Ethan
Peter was a behavioral scientist for animals, working at various zoos and sometimes traveling the world as a keynote speaker.
We went to the “hip” bar for a final round. Ethan responsibly left first since he had another tour in the morning and then we parted ways with Peter. Another great evening.
Day 7 – The Imbalanced Ratio of Driving vs Stopping
We weren’t in a hurry in the morning, but we knew we had a long time on the road.
Our plan was to do what I had done a week prior and drive south through the Catlins to see some of the sights on our way to Dunedin. Only this time without the flooding.
It was roughly 5hrs of driving, not including stops. We had the key ones picked out.
After breakfast, we pushed off on our first leg of the trip — a somewhat plain drive through Invercargill (stop to pee) and onto Curio Bay.
Three hours later, we had arrived. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any of the wildlife around but it was a solid vista. It was only a brief stop before we were onto the next.
Curio Bay
Then after another 45 minutes and some car sickness, we made it to our second stop — Purakaunui Falls. It was a short walk to one of the more unique ones I’ve seen.
Zack & Hannah at Purakaunui Falls
It was about another hour or so to Nugget Point. We had a solid chat about the healthcare system in America before we arrived.
It was a 40 minute return walk to the lighthouse that had some unique cone-shaped rocks just off the coast.
Nugget Point
Got back in the car. Roughly another hour long drive to Dunedin. Pit stopped near Balclutha to refuel and pee. Some more car naps. I was fading. Bland scenery? Unusual for New Zealand. At least we didn’t have to ford any floods. It felt a lot later than it was.
At long last, we entered the Dunedin city limits.
View from the AirBnB
We stayed outside of the city center at an AirBnB that was situated on a hill overlooking everything. It had a pretty awesome view.
The host was out when we arrived so we let ourselves in and got comfortable.
There was a debate on whether we should just make food and relax there or venture into the city.
The energy level was low.
I tried to encourage going to see some sites since they might never be back. That won out in the end and we had a pretty awesome dinner, featuring tasty pasta dishes and a full liter of wine. A full liter.
We met our host briefly when we returned. It was basically to set up our breakfast time for the morning.
Day 8 – The Swan Song
The Airbnb reviews really talked up Georgina (the host).
She provided some muesli and toast for us. She was definitely the chatty grandmother type. I think we left like a good 30-45 minutes later than we would have since she got on a roll.
It was good. Apart from the drunk shitheads in Queenstown and playboy Ethan, Zack and Hannah hadn’t had much of a chance to connect with a local.
She made some recommendations of places to stop on our drive up to Christchurch. It was another long day in the car. We had to get back at a certain point to drop off the rental as well.
We did pull off to see the Moeraki Rocks, do a quick drive by of the Oamaru steampunk museum and grab lunch but I don’t remember too much else.
Car naps? Oh, mos definitely.
We made it to our final destination a little before 4pm. We hustled to unload our things so we could knock out the airport excursion and get into Christchurch to explore.
Again, the 12 year old girls took a while to process our return (we’ve come full circle) but it got done and we caught the bus downtown.
I showed them the main highlights I’d seen – New Regent St, Cathedral Square, the Bridge of Remembrance and a few of the shopping streets.
We went to an “upmarket food court,” as a shop owner described it, for dinner. It was a large building with a ton of tasty looking restaurants all side by side.
Last Meal at Little High Eatery
I went HAAM on my last meal in New Zealand. A huge plate of seafood fried rice, some sushi and a big boy beer.
We decided it’d be a nice trip finale to go have a drink at one of the cool spots we’d seen on New Regent St.
We chose The Last Word, which looked like a vibey whisky bar. After a drink there, we were like why the hell not and went to The Institution across the street. They were both divey bars with a good selection and fun decor.
We had a comfy time on some couches finishing that beverage. Then the question of what we were doing next came up. Well damn. I’m usually not one to derail a night out but I had to leave a 4am to head to the airport. It was already 10:30pm and I still had to repack my things. The intelligent part of my brain said we should probably go back. I was up for whatever, so let the other two decide.
Hannah felt like staying out so we went back to The Last Word to have the last word.
I just thought of that.
I’m glad we did. Zack and I got in a giggle fit about how introverts could meet other introverts and get in a relationship without saying anything to one another.
It was an excellent way to finish off our time together, and my trip as a whole.
We Uber’d back to our…hotel room? It was a unique, boutique type accommodation with a bit of a weird vibe if I’m being honest.
The three of us destroyed our room rearranging all of our belongings. We said our fond farewells.
I got less than 2 hours of sleep. Thankfully, I woke up to my alarm and met my taxi.
After 3 months of living in New Zealand, I hopped on a 6am flight to Australia.
I was leaving what had become familiar territory to start a new chapter of this travel adventure. Mixed feelings that I’m only just now processing.
The Last Coin
The incredible thing, is that I somehow only ended up with this single 10¢ coin.
I’d say my experience was worth a whole lot more, but an overall rating of 10 wouldn’t be too far off.
The last three days have been a complete blur. Things progressed quickly.
Keep Taupo Flawless
So quickly that this is the only picture I have of Taupo; which is a lovely town nestled on a lake with some stunning views.
Upon arrival, I checked into my hostel, settled in a little bit and made arrangements to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing the next day. It’s a 6-8 hour trek and on several top 10 lists of best walking tracks in the world. I’d been highly anticipating it, following the forecast for over a week. It snowed within the last few days, and temperatures were as low as -14 C at night. Wild. There were some deaths recently as well, so it was kind of vital to pick a good spot. It was lookinggood, so I reserved a place on the morning shuttle (5:20am pick up — yowzers) and even convinced an Irish girl checking in to pull the trigger as well.
After that was all settled, I went to meet up with Rob, a German traveler I met back in Paihia. He was on his way out of town later in the day but we strolled around the lake. We had a solid chat about our respective careers and how difficult it is to manage multiple social media platforms while on the road. We made plans to reconvene in Wellington and ferry over to the South Island together on the weekend.
After we parted ways, I went grocery shopping for the first time while here. It made me feel like a true traveler but I went overboard and it still didn’t really save me from spending money on beer so it’s a work in progress.
I prepared lunch and snacks to take on the walk and fixed myself dinner. I’m appreciating the communal tables at hostels because it encourages socializing. Had a decent chat with a small group of people and then went back to my room to pack my bag for the hike. It was only 9:30pm but there were already two people in bed for the night so now I was the dick making a bunch of disruptive noise with clothing and zipping. Dammit. Did my best to sort it all out so all I had to do was wake up and go.
My god. I slept like dog shit
It was a mixture of anticipation, a rock hard mattress and a fingernail-thin pillow. That alarm was a son of a bitch. Made a bunch more accidental noise before grabbing a quick breakfast and hopping on the shuttle with a handful of other people from the hostel.
It was a long, dark, hour-long ride out to Tongariro National Park. There was kind of a combined air of anxiety and excitement over how challenging the crossing would be. One sure thing was that it was moody as hell with the sun still rising and a layer of clouds being stubborn about burning off.
A small group of 4 assembled as walking partners: myself, Emma, the Irish girl, and Coen and Luuc, two individual travelers both from The Netherlands. We started at a breakneck pace but it was the beginning and the easiest part of the whole track. Gave me a chance to get to know Coen who’s a cool dude.
Beginning of the Crossing
The fog began to clear as everybody’s pace set the order. The first difficult section was an ascent called The Devil’s Staircase. And oof. I started thinking, “Damn, we’re this close to the beginning and my legs are already wobbly. Probably dehydrated. Not smart on my part. Oops. Oh great, only 14 more kilometers to go.” Tight.
We died a few times. Then we climbed some more. Then we made excuses to take a break — gotta put on sunscreen real quick. Then we climbed some more. Hey, need to pull over to shed some layers. Climb. Water? Good idea. Climb. Contemplate life choices. Climb.
Snow Valley Pano
Fiiiiiinally.
Oh shit, this isn’t even the summit. But at least it was a simpler stretch of track. And actually a stellar valley of snow nestled between two giant mountains. It was interesting to see the silhouettes of a few people up in the distance against a white backdrop. Breathtaking.
Next was another challenging, but thankfully shorter, ascent up a slippery embankment. I’d get to a point where I didn’t think my legs could lift high enough to reach the foot hold, then slip a little, catch myself, and keep going.
Tongariro Summit
Out of breath. All kinds of back sweat. Straight knackered and heavily in need of a snack.
It was the summit at last. To the right – Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings; in front – a red crater; to the left – a hairy downhill of snow and loose gravel reaching a silky blue sulfur lake…called Blue Lake. It was one of those euphoric sights where you have to mind your emotions as to not be too giddy.
I mean, that’s how I live. You’ve met me.
Me at the Summit
Also, one misstep and you’d be sliding a few thousand feet into a crater, so yeah. Plus I already climbed my ass off and I didn’t have a spare one in my backpack.
It was really dicey on the way down to the lake. I felt like I was skiing with the amount of skidding and carving I was doing to remain upright. Intense.
Again, the view down there was amazing. The smell on the other hand was brutal. Take about a thousand rotten eggs (or just one of my farts) and that was it. Surprisingly, the setting was enough to make you forget about the stench.
Reflection in Blue Lake
Everything was beautiful. And then it was time to climb another snowy hill toward the long descent. It was about a three-hour journey down a windy path. There were a few parts where we had to go up some stairs and my hamstrings were just like fuck you, man.
A quad cramp. A sandwich. And about 15,000 steps later, we were at the bottom.
I cracked a beer that I carried all 19.4km and still had enough energy to survive every jealous look.
On the shuttle ride home pretty much everybody passed out which was funny to witness. So many bobbing heads.
Back at the hostel, the guy at the front desk asked us how it was and all that. Then he’s like, by the way this rafting company called, they’re doing a promotional trip tomorrow and there are still 4 spots available. I was thinking, $15 off isn’t really going to pique my interest, but then he said FREE. Ballin.
It was an all day trip where they’d be shooting a promo video and some pictures. For a moment, I almost declined since it was going to eat up the whole day. That would’ve been monumentally stupid. I signed up and changed my departing bus so I could still do some stuff around town.
Very happy that I did. A fun group of 10 from the hostel went.
Rafting Group
It was just us and our guides, broken into two rafts. There was a third boat floating behind with the photographer and videographer.
We got so lucky. The package we experienced was a $145 value. We did have to slow down or stop a few extra times so they could set up equipment and decide on shots but it was all good. I gave a video testimonial, so we’ll see if I’m in some online promo or brochure some time in the future.
What a day though. The weather was perfect. The water and scenery were spectacular. You could see a ton of trout swimming upstream to spawn. It was beautiful. I think I was the only person that had been rafting before and it was also on level 3 rapids. Such an enjoyable time. I sat in the action seat in the front of the boat for half of the trip and almost got bounced out when we slammed into a rock but that was all part of the fun.
After we finished, we even got taken to a thermal pool to have a soak and then got soup and bread to end the day. Oh, and a free T-shirt and all pictures. What a deal. Made some awesome connections and had a blast.
Bossin Them Level 3s
With my final few hours in town the next day, I decided to rent a mountain bike and ride a Grade 2 trail up to the popular waterfall nearby. It was a three-hour return walk, so I figured by bike I could scoot out there, take some photos and have enough time to enjoy the hot springs before grabbing my stuff and making it to catch my bus.
Welp. I was wrong about that.
Let me reiterate, the mountain bike track was classified as Grade 2. On any scale, that shouldn’t really be a problem. A combination of heavy legs from the crossing, a bike that was shifting whenever it wanted (primarily on uphills), and a seat made of stone and torture, it was quite an embarrassing performance.
Getting out to the falls was ok. I only had one or two points where I had to hop off and get up to the next peak.
This Bitch
The way back was a disaster. There were a few moments where I was worried about missing my bus. At a minimum, having to sit in all my sweat and subject a bus load of people to that for six hours. And possibly have to stand the whole ride because of how punished my cheeks felt.
Thankfully, I had just enough time to bathe in a frenzy and scramble to the stop to find out the bus was delayed by 30 minutes. Lolz.
It was a whirlwind few days in Taupo. A lot of highs and a single low – fuckin bike number 4.
Boarding the bus was a relief because I was ready for a nap. But it was also bittersweet because things had been so solid in this unassuming town.
Regardless, I was off to Wellington to experience some capital city life.
