New Zealand

New Zealand is an easy country to travel in. It’s mostly safe, has good infrastructure, welcomes tourism, and everyone speaks English.

This ease can itself be a drawback, as it can lull travelers into having a rather stereotypical experience. Beat the well-worn track from hostel to popular bar to slick tourist operation, and you may end up with lots of pretty photos of mountains, an empty wallet, and a feeling that you haven’t really got to know the place.

Such a rut can be avoided if you slow down a little and head off in a different direction from the backpacker crowd. This is easier if you have your own transport and, greenhouse gases aside, a (cheap) private vehicle really is the best way to get around (share it between two or three, and you can stop feeling guilty about the planet).

The vest thing a traveler in New Zealand can do is throw away the guide book . Drive to a small town somewhere, wander into the pub or local information centre and just ask what there is to see and where you can eat. You’ll likely to at least get an enthusiastic description of obscure local attractions (in New Zealand, anything that happened more than thirty years ago is ‘historic’), and you may get invited to a barbeque or taken fishing.

New Zealand has an over-abundance of treks and national parks, so choose any that Lonely Planet doesn’t include in its ‘essentials’ and you may end up with most of a stunning lake, forest and valley to yourself (along with a couple of intrepid Germans).

Backpackers in New Zealand tend to be independent, austere, but slightly cautious types mainly interested in engaging with nature. That goes with the territory – New Zealand’s remote, wild charms hardly attract spring break-style revelers, but it doesn’t quite have the edginess of, say, India or Bolivia, either.

There’s now also increasing number of travelers with round-the-world tickets who are ‘doing’ the country in a couple of weeks between similarly rushed schedules in Asia, Australia and South America. Late sleepers should beware – in New Zealand the 7 am plastic bag rustlers dominate the hostels. Overall, travelers keep to themselves a little more than in the more exotic countries.

This is all the more reason to break away from the stale backpacker scene and get to know some locals. New Zealanders are generally friendly but won’t swamp you with gregariousness, so you need something to break the ice. One option is heading to a rugby or cricket match, as sport is one of the few things New Zealanders can be truly articulate about and a game is one environment where they feel relaxed and comfortable. Apart from the most parochial of rugby crowds, these are much more relaxed occasions than a European football match and cricket in particular is mainly an excuse for a day-long drinking session. Wellington’s rugby sevens tournament in February (high summer) is like the local version of Latin carnival, only with paler skin and geekier costumes.

In the summer months of January—March, there are quite a few outdoor music festivals with a range of local bands and DJs, cheapish entry and a laid back vibe These are good spots to pick up some of the local weed, if that’s your thing.

The main time that New Zealanders go on holiday is in summer from around Christmas through to about the middle of February, but the country is so sparsely populated that the only time you’ll encounter serious competition for space and resources is in the couple of weeks around New Year.

An under appreciated pleasure of traveling New Zealand is the food and drink. Having discarded old, British-style culinary habits, New Zealanders now mix up their local cuisine with some flair. Traveling through the countryside in the warmer months you should see farm gates advertising some kind of produce every couple of kilometres. If you can stop, these are great places to grab a stack of cheap fresh fruit. New Zealand has a burgeoning wine industry, with scores of boutique vineyards that offer free tastings, and there are now also lots of micro breweries whose wares can often be sampled in local pubs in the region where they’re made. If you take it slow and hunt around a bit, New Zealand can be a bit like a cheaper, less pompous version of France or Italy.

Key to enjoying yourself in New Zealand is flexibility, and being prepared to rough it a bit. Many of the most fun things involve getting wet, muddy, or covered in sand. Essential items: good, strong shoes; good day pack; something waterproof; and other clothes that at least dry quickly. A tent is not essential, but gives you extra options if you do have one.

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