“Hey I’m Jub, how are you?”
“Good, I’m (insert name here), sorry was that Job?”
“No no, Jub. J U B.”
“Ah Jub, got it. Cool name! So where you from Jub?”
“Kiwi. Whoops I mean, New Zealand.”
That is roughly how conversations start in hostels.
When New Zealand comes up the conversation the proceeds to go in these three directions. The last one has been chipping away at me slowly.
“Ah, New Zealand is in my list of countries to go to next!”
“Awesome, Lord of the Rings is beautiful and Flight of the Conchords is hilarious”
“Wow I loved New Zealand, it’s the most stunning country ever. Have you bungy jumped? Done the Tongariro Crossing? Hot Water Beach is crazy!”
This is the moment where I slightly embarrassingly have to say no to all.
I’ve seen a few bits of New Zealand, but not anywhere nearly as much as it could should be.
This isn’t uncommon. Whenever you think about any kind of extended holiday, it so often skips anywhere domestically and goes straight to another country. Even if that means at least three hours on a plane for kiwis. In the end, we never seem to travel much around our home turf.
Now that I’ve almost been in Wellington for four weeks I need to start taking a few more trips to do some ‘tourist activities’. The term ‘microadventure’ came into my vocab recently, it’s perfect for tackling this.
Microadventure definition: an overnight outdoor adventure that is “small and achievable, for normal people with real lives”.
Here’s My Top 5 Microadventure Ideas I Need To Do In New Zealand. Millennium Hotels also put there top 5 activities in New Zealand together which goes to show just how awesome NZ is as there’s little crossover between the two.
photo from Flick via Harry Lund
The Tongaririo Crossing is one of the most beautiful hikes in the country they say. The most popular stretch is 19km walk that can be completed in one day. You climb 1000 metres in elevation, follow the alpine track before descending towards the end. And see epic scenery on the way, seems easy enough. It’s also one of the Great Walks of New Zealand.
READ MORE: I COMPLETED THE TONGARIRO CROSSING!
Photo From Flickr via Chris Ford
Milford Sound is a fjord (not going to lie, had to look up what a fjord is) in Fiordland National Park. A fiord is an inlet from the sea, in this case 15km in from the Tasman Sea, developed as a result of glaciers eroding and what is left is an inlet with massive cliffs as a border. People often say it is the most photogenic place they’ve seen. The picture above doesn’t look to shabby and you can complete this trip in a day using Queenstown as a base!
AJ Hackett is one the New Zealand’s heroes. Bringing Bungy Jumping to the world and putting New Zealand on the map. It’s polarizing, people either really really want to jump off a bridge or wouldn’t even consider it on iota.
The closest thing I’ve done is the big swing at Gravity Canyon a few (Woah, like seven) years ago. That seems a lot more chilled out than a vertical drop. I wouldn’t look to do anything crazy, a straight drop for 75m would keep me on my toes.
If bungy jumping tickles your fancy, perhaps these other adrenaline activities will too.
Photo from Flickr via Chris Lynch
Located in the Waikato region, hot water beach is exactly that. A hot water beach! When it’s low tide, you are able to dig a whole in the sand so that the water below the ground being pushed up through the sand by a fissure hits the surface. This water is hot! You simply dig a little area for yourself and chill out in natures seaside spa. AWESOME!
RELATED POST: IS THE COROMANDEL WORTH VISITING?
Photo from Flickr via < ahref="https://www.flickr.com/photos/10657705@N00/" target="_blank">Cliff Hanger
Dad took us (me & sister) tobogganing at Happy Valley near Ruapehu when we were Grasshoppers but I’ve never actually been skiing or snowboarding. I managed to go ice-skating just before Christmas last year in Chiang Mai, time to tick another winter activity off.
The worst thing about this list (check out my NZ Bucket List!) is I couldn’t have told you exactly where the Tongariro Crossing, Hot Water Beach or Milford Sound was on a map.
Bonus Microadventure Ideas: Te Araroa Trail
Hike the length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa Trail. The Te Araroa was finally opened in 2011, with a total length of 4000km. I would love to do this sometime but it’s unlikely to be anytime soon given it would take 4 – 6 months to complete.
The inspiration for the Te Araroa Trail came from a couple friends as well as my uncle both completed the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada.
I also read Wild Boy recently, the story of a lad walking right away the edges of New Zealand over a couple of years.
The couple of encounters he had with dogs would give me the shits though!
I got pretty darn lucky in life being born in New Zealand and cannot wait to get away and get in some more epic kiwi adventures. This is just a few of all the epic things to do in New Zealand.
The term microadventures is new to me having heard it on a podcast a few weeks ago, but it makes exploring New Zealand in micro adventures seem much more attainable!
Have you explored you backyard thoroughly? Any plans to go somewhere close to home soon?
READ NEXT: MY NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL GUIDE FULL OF TIPS
