New Zealand is the home of jet boats. The HamiltonJet water jet propulsion system used in jet boats worldwide was released in its earliest form by Sir William Hamilton in New Zealand way back 1954. Since then, HamiltonJet of New Zealand has been developing this jetboat propulsion system into what it is today. Nowadays, jet
New Zealand has some awe-inspiring vistas, from the southern alps to glistening lakes, volcanos and sheep, lots of sheep, like looooooooooots of sheep. However, with a Maori name like Aotearoa, or Land of the Long White Cloud, it probably shouldn’t be surprising that those clouds lend themselves to some epic sunsets all around the country.
In September and October 2018, we did a 32-day road trip around the North Island of New Zealand followed by a 10-day cruise that brought us back to Australia via the South Island of New Zealand. I know, 32 days seems like an awful lot to spend on just the New Zealand North Island, right? Especially considering we visit some of those same places again on the subsequent 10-day cruise home. However, there are actually so many places to see and things to do here that are often overlooked. We could easily have spent longer here, and there are places I want to go back to and spend some more time in!
After our New Zealand North Island road trip, we cruised back to Sydney through Fiordland. We were fortunate to have excellent weather and got to see Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. We’ve been to Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound on previous trips aboard small tourist vessels operated by Real Journeys (including this amazing
Day 2 of our 42-day road trip around the North Island of New Zealand started off from our accommodation in Greytown, Greyfriars Motel. We headed down to the town of Martinborough, and then made our way to Lake Ferry, out to Onoke Spit, and then across to Cape Palliser Lighthouse. On the way back, we … Read more
Day 1 of our 42-day road trip around the North Island of New Zealand started off at Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel. We got a morning flight to Wellington, New Zealand where we arrived mid-afternoon. We picked up our hire car from Jucy Rentals and went to The Hop Garden for lunch. Finally, we made our
When we landed in New Zealand, it was about 3 pm local time. Smack bang on lunchtime back in Australia, so by the time we got through customs, caught the free shuttle to Jucy, and picked up our hire car from them, we were starting to get pretty hungry. The first place on our list
One of the big things we utilise our Bartercard membership for is travel. Bartercard is only available in a limited number of countries, and outside of Australia, New Zealand is one of the bigger ones. This makes it perfect for use when travelling. There are, however, a few caveats that Bartercard won’t tell you. Ironically … Read more
Greytown is a small town about an hour north of Wellington. We chose it as our base for a few days because it put us on the opposite side of Wellington Harbour, the perfect place for exploring the south-east corner of the New Zealand North Island. There are not a whole lot of accommodation options
Petrol in New Zealand is expensive compared to Australia and the United States. The best prices are around $2.00 per litre for regular 91 octane fuel on the North Island. It’s not uncommon to find prices anywhere between $2.17 and $2.25 per litre in regional centres and don’t be surprised in small, remote areas to
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