New Zealand is an amazing place. With all the mountains, lakes, beaches, wineries, uncrowded roads winding through one small town after another, there is incredible scenery to explore around every corner. Fresh locally sourced foods are featured small towns For someone who loves the outdoors, uncrowded spaces, and small town living, there aren’t many places that offer an experience on par with what can be enjoyed in New Zealand. People we encountered everywhere were warm and welcoming. Food and beverage options, even at road-side cafes, was freshly prepared and offered menus filled with items sourced locally.
One of the many things that impressed us in New Zealand was the countries willingness and ability to and act when they identify something they see as a problem. Not everyone agrees with all the decisions that are made, but they seem to prefer to give things a try rather than argue back and forth for so long that nothing gets accomplished. Being a smaller country, they are able to adapt and react quickly similar to the way a small business can.
For example, to do their part in reducing the amount of plastic waste, plastic bags in the grocery store aren’t available at checkout. You either bring your own bags, or you buy one of their reusable bags at checkout. I don’t know if we saw a plastic straw in the month we were there. Even some of the McDonald’s we drove past were advertising on their signs out front that they no longer offered plastic straws. It is a bit funny that a McDonald’s in New Zealand can find an alternative to their single use plastic straws while other luxury properties around the world have to wait for their corporate office to source and direct properties to find a suitable replacement.
Some may argue that since New Zealand is such a small country, there may not be a recognizable result from their efforts, but maybe if more took similar steps, we wouldn’t be watching documentaries about trash island in the middle of the ocean.
Being such an attractive place to live, New Zealand has had to tighten their laws around immigration laws in recent years.. It is still possible, however, in order to relocate, one has to fill a position of need for the country, a position that there isn’t already occupied by a New Zealander.
Laundry – One thing we constantly have to manage while traveling is our laundry. The less we bring, the more mobile we are. Unfortunately, the less we bring means more frequent washings. In New Zealand where we spent so much time outdoors, we did our share of laundry.
The two items below helped us keep up with the washings.
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Much easier to pack than pods or any sort of liquid detergent, we've found these sheets to be very useful. If we only have a few items to wash, we tear the sheet in half. No need to worry about leaking detergent or powder spills on travel days when the sheets are easily packed into the suitcase
In both Australia and New Zealand, several homes don't have dryers. As a result, our travel clothesline was used often. We like this particular model because the place holders can help keep the pins in place - the clothes end up staying separated rather than bunching together.
We’ve arranged for most of our family touring in New Zealand through Southern World. We like exploring new destinations by all methods of travel – cruising, touring, or on our own. The thing we like best about private custom tours is that we can collaborate with and design our experience exactly the way we want, under the expert guidance of a trusted local operator.
Southern World has contacts all over both islands of New Zealand. Under their knowlegable guidance we’ve coordinated several day tours as well as chosen cities to serve as our home base while we explore the amazing country.
There are several options for cruising around the perimeter of New Zealand – Large ship, small ship, expedition. The cruises are a great way to see the sections of the country you may like to return to at a later date. With as long as it takes to get to New Zealand from the States, we recommend also organizing some pre-or post touring to experience the local towns and villages while participating in some of the fun adventure activities available.
Taking a tour with a small group provides the opportunity to experience the sites of New Zealand with other like-minded travelers on popular pre-designed itineraries.
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