If you go by car, the distance between Auckland and Christchurch is 1079.73 km. Just in case you wanted to know.

In October 2019 my boyfriend, Wayde, and I flew into Auckland, New Zealand to start our 15 day vacation that would take us down through the North Island, crossing over to the South and back up again. 

Oh, and we spent 9 of those days in a camper van. At first, I was a little concerned, but it ended up being one of the best two weeks of my life.

Traveling to New Zealand never crossed my mind as something I wanted to do in my lifetime, but I’m so glad I did. 

We wouldn’t have gone anywhere if it weren’t for this handsome guy. When he lived in NZ, he actually drove semi trucks for a living. Since they drive on the left side of the road and we rented a monster sized camper van, we agreed it would be safer if he did all the driving.

Thanks babe!

Once we landed, we were happily surprised by his parents. He hadn’t been home in 5 years and this was the first time I was meeting them. After leaving the airport, we picked up our camper van and found a quiet spot to nap since we were so exhausted from the 14 hour flight.

Thankfully, because the time zone change was so extreme, it felt like it was only 4 hours difference and not 20. However, we were in no shape to go anywhere until we had something to eat and got some sleep.

Wayde’s childhood friend lives in Auckland and invited us to see a show he was working in the city. It was a hilarious sketch comedy show, but much of jokes went right over my head since I had 0 context for what was going on. The only exception was the skit making fun of Americans.

I recently had a DCL friend come visit me here in Seattle & I’ve been invited to a wedding in England this year as well. But I think the most random was when I met up with a couple crew members while in NZ and one of them was even in my new hire group.we were happily surprised by his parents. He hadn’t been home in 5 years and this was the first time I was meeting them. After leaving the airport, we picked up our campervan and found a quiet spot to nap since we were so exhausted from the 14 hour flight.

Thankfully, because the time zone change was so extreme, it felt like it was only 4 hours difference and not 20. However, we were in no shape to go anywhere until we had something to eat and got some sleep.

After the first full day of fun, we drove to stay Wayde’s uncle in Awhitu. The next morning we ate a proper kiwi breakfast, went four-wheeling on the beach & visited the lighthouse on the peninsula.

One of my absolute favorite places that we stayed was literally right on Hahei beach in Waikato, as a special surprise.

Since October is technically spring in that part of the world, the water was freezing and we didn’t stay in it longer than a few minutes.

go hunting down cast members asking for their discount, it’s a heavily monitored process (mostly for friends and family or the cm themselves). However, if you are a three stripped officer or higher, you could actually sign people on to cruise for free*. Which is actually how I met my boyfriend. One of my absolute favorite places that we stayed was literally right on Hahei beach in Waikato, as a special surprise.

We did wake up early to try and catch a sunrise that never happened and ended up walking along the shoreline.

Chef Wayde cooked some breakfast, we washed our dishes and headed off to met up with another friend of Wayde’s for coffee in Thames.

However, the main highlight of the day was to drive to Paeroa for L&P and fish n chips. FIRST OF ALL, hot dogs are weird in NZ. They’re soggy and covered in ketchup. I don’t get it. However I am a big fan of L&P, and there is still an unopened bottle in my fridge.

After our lovely fish n chips picnic, we drove up into the mountains to find a place to park up for the night. We picked a quiet little spot near Pureora Forest Park and Wayde cooked up some muscles. 

We still had a long way to go but those first few days were so exciting and new to me I never wanted it to end.

TLDR; I traveled to New Zealand with my kiwi boyfriend and had the best time.

 

Thanks for reading & drink more water

-Ri

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Raisa Lynn

As an experienced freelance copywriter and web content writer, I help businesses and brands find their voice, tell their story and spread their message, using copy that engages, informs, persuades, motivates, challenges, provokes and entertains.

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