As I said in another discussion page, I was in New Zealand from July-November of 2005 while studying abroad at the University of Auckland. I probably did a lot more travelling than I did studying while I was there, so it was well worth it!

I want to give my suggestions of things to do in the different places I went. I won't elaborate greatly, but I will try and give the basics.

I'll go in chronological order of how my time in New Zealand went. First off was Rotorua, with Zorbing and the Maori culture.

Auckland has the SkyTower; Auckland Museum; Kharangahape Road (K-Road); Auckland Harbour Bungy Jump; numerous bars and clubs to make for a great nightlife; Mt. Eden where you can get an awesome view of the city and surrounding area for a sunset; Rangitoto Island; Waiheke Island; Devonport; Auckland Zoo; Piha Beach (great surfing) and the Lion Head Rock; Muriwai Beach with the black sand beaches; Minus 5 Bar (vodka bar that is all carved out of ice...expensive and small, but worth the experience); deep-sea fishing; New Zealand All Blacks Rugby.

Kaikoura has dolphin swimming and whale watching.

Nelson is home to the geographical centre of New Zealand; has an awesome sea kayaking venue on the Abel Tasman sea where dolphins will start swimming right amongst you.

Greymouth has a Monteiths brewery where you can take a cheap tour and sample all of their products.

Franz Josef has the Franz Josef Glacier where you can ice climb, do a helicopter fly-over, glacier hike, etc.; Tatare Tunnels where you can do a little exploring.

Queenstown has horseback trekking; a gondola with a luge, bungy jump, jump from the top on a glider; Shotover River Jet Boat ride; skiing at numerous venues; Nevis Bungy Jump; Canyon Swing from a small rocket-ship looking vehicle that is attached to a long cable and propelled by a powerful fan

Milford Sound is located close to Queenstown where you can be picked up by a bus. It is a 3.5-4.0 hr ride each way. It offers gorgeous scenery and immense mountains that immerge from the water.

I didn't do much in Dunedin, but it's on the stop around the South Island loop. There is a Cadbury chocolate factory where you can take a tour and get some good chocolate.

Lake Tekapo has some good views of Mt. Cook (the tallest mountain in NZ) and you can hike up Mt. John and get a great view of the scenery.

Christchurch has a gondola as well. I went to a concert where Shapeshifter performed while I was there. There's the Cathedral Square where there are always venders selling things.

Taupo has a good skydiving location; Craters of the Moon thermal vent locations; Huka Falls.

Coromandel has hot sand beaches where the thermal vents heat the water that is trapped in the sand by the beaches and then you dig a small hole to trap the water and you have a natural hot tub.

Bay of Islands is an excellent place to go sailing. My roommate and I rented a small sailboat and went sailing with 2 other friends. He has knowledge of sailing, so we sailed for about 6 hours in some gorgeous bays. We also went to the Ngawha Springs. It is a geothermal mud spring. The smell of sulfur is very strong, but the mud and warm water is very relaxing.

Those are the placest I went and the things I did for the most part. I did not get to go to 90 Mile Beach, Wellington, or any other place in the southern part of the North Island but I'm sure there are plenty of great things to do in those places.

For a more complete list of things I did and pictures to accompany, go to http://www.australearn.org/Students/BLOG/TylerPowell.htm Happy travels!

Cheers,

~TN Tyler

90 Mile Beach is Amazing!

Oh, that sounds amazing!

I'd love to go to school in New Zealand. I've heard a bit about Australearn. Were they helpful in the whole process?

AustraLearn was a great program to go through. Not too many people from my school use the program because it serves Australia and New Zealand which are the two most expensive places to study abroad at, but I didn't have any problems with them. I interacted with them so much via email that they asked me to blog for them. They enjoyed my blog so much that they made me their "Featured Blogger", so my blog is still up as the first one on their list even though I'm not currently studying abroad through them.

As far as going to school in New Zealand, I'd say that was my least favorite thing about the trip. It cost a lot and I don't feel that I really learned too much while I was there. It was really difficult to try and get classes that would match as credits at my home university and then I didn't do as well in them as I was hoping for because I was having to try and bridge the gap between what I knew already and what they were expecting people coming into that class to know. The good thing about attending school there was that I met so many people that I wouldn't have met if I just went to NZ for 4.5 months. Some of the people who were studying abroad through the same program as I did are some of my best friends now. Even though we are spread out across the whole U.S., we still remain in contact and try to plan trips to see each other and such. I even managed to find myself a Kiwi girlfriend while I was there. That's the thing to do right there, because I was able to do so many more things while dating her than what I would have been able to do by myself. She had a car and didn't mind driving my friends and I places, she showed us a lot of cool places around Auckland and invited me and 3 of my friends to spend the weekend at her family's bach (Kiwi slang for beach house).

So I definitely enjoyed my time in New Zealand and I was happy that I attended school there for a semester. The classes were just a little bit more difficult than what I was expecting.

By any chances, did you see any anglers on your journey in New Zealand. More specifically, on the South Island. I will be going there next March to checkout the some streams to fish there. Any info will help.

robdogj:
I can't say that I came across or talked to any big-time anglers, but they do have some great places. I always hear about people doing fishing shows in New Zealand. I went deepsea fishing right outside of Auckland and we caught all kinds of Snapper and even one John Dory, which was some good eating.

They have all kinds of mountains around, so that means that there will always be streams and such, so you shouldn't have any problem finding somewhere to fish. As far as specific places, you'd just have to talk to the Park Rangers or somebody at a Wildlife place...they have specific names that they are called, but I can't remember it off the top of my head.

Have fun though!

@ robdogj: there is indeed a ton of fishing in nz. i ran into a BUNCH when i was there some years back. such a strange hobby; they were all into it and talking about the various places, etc, and i still don't understand. i'm not an angler, i guess.

i remember taupo being one the big destinations for that, and that's on the north island. although of course south island is going to be much more remote, etc..... lake taupo is still very large, very beautiful, and has tons of fish.

@ tennesseetyler: i did pretty much all of the things you listed.... and then some! i kind of did like the dunedin/otago area. the catlins are beautiful. i even went to stewart island and tramped around there for nearly a week. it rains a lot. but most of that island is just entirely abandoned, very peaceful. more importantly, i can concur with lasko1984: 90 mile beach IS amazing. and i DID actually drive the whole thing, in my 2wd car, back when i was young and crazy. coming in up a stream was..... all in good fun. a lot of visitors skip the northern tip, and i don't think they should. a lot of fantastic sites up there.

other than that pretty comprehensive list.

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