Kelsey's Travel Blog!
I travel not to escape life, but to be sure that life will not escape me! Come join me!
Wellington, New Zealand
We were off to Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand on the 2nd of January. Even though Queenstown was going to be a tough act to follow, Wellington did quite a good job! Wellington, to me, was the first place I had been in New Zealand that I could see myself living in. The waterfront is beautiful and the city has a charm that I really couldn’t find in Queenstown. It's surprising that, after growing up in a place like Boulder, Colorado, I wouldn't prefer that small, mountain backpacker town. Yet after living in a place like Philadelphia, I stand by being city girl; thriving on the hustle and bustle, the loud noises, the sleepless streets. Wellington was a good breath of fresh air.
We stayed at the Wellywoods Backpackers in the city center where we met two great Kiwi guys who hail from Auckland, but had traveled the nine hour car drive for a week in a different city. Although we were only in Wellington for 3 days we had so much fun driving through wine country and going wine tasting, hiking, and going to drinks in the back ally pubs only visited by the locals. We got to go to Martinburough, a beautiful wine country just outside of Wellington, best known for its Pinot Nior. We luckily were traveling with a wine expert who taught us, well more me, the art of wine tasting, aging, and the wine making process. I walked away with one bottle of Pinot Noir that I hope to open for a special occasion.
We also went to the Red Rocks Reserve (I think that’s what it is called) where we ventured around the coast, hiked along beach to some beautiful rock formations. Although it might not sound too exciting, it's always more important to being good company, since just about everything was exciting when you are with these two guys! I’m not sure if you could find two nicer and funnier people in the entire country of New Zealand. My sister and I were incredibly lucky to come across these guys at our hostel in Wellington. They took us to places that we never would have normally known to go to, we learned things we never would have known just by encountering other backpackers, for example, flip flops are called “Jandles”, and they became our lifesavers when they, out of the goodness of their hearts, offered to drive us the 9 hour drive to Auckland! There is always an advantage to seeking out the locals, and it continues to be a goal of mine throughout my travels.
We were going to have to take an 11-12 hour bus ride from Wellington to Auckland on the 5th but these guys came to our rescue and shortened the drive to 9 hours, and added a fun little road trip into the mix. Traveling with these guys was such a blast! We got to stop in some cool places like a beautiful waterfall and Taupo, New Zealand. We couldn’t have been luckier to have come across these guys and we are waiting for them to come to the US so that we can do an American road trip!
I am surprised at how attached I got to New Zealand since being here. At first when I arrived, I liked New Zealand, but I didn’t love it since it really is SOOOOO similar to the United States, but after being here for 3 weeks, meeting the people, experiencing the culture, and just living, I am going to be incredibly upset to leave. We have a few more days left here, so we are going to make the most of it! We have a few fun things planned for the rest of the time in Auckland, and then, I must continue on to Sydney (hard life, right?). New Zealand has a place in my heart for sure, and I know that I will want to return soon!
