Sometime in the last quarter of 2021/first quarter of 2022 New Zealand will likely be opening its borders again to international tourism. There will be a few caveats, it is likely that proof of a covid-19 vaccination will be required or you will need to spend 14 days in managed isolation/quarantine (at a cost of NZ$5,500).
Anyone thinking of coming here may be interested in this little story.
Some time before Covid I had the pleasure (well, pleasure for me, it cost the couple NZ$120 for excess speed) of meeting a young couple in their 30's from Clarksville, TN. He was a soldier in the US Army and was surprised I was aware of Fort Campbell until I told him that the nephew of a friend is based there.
We spoke of the different scenery between the two places. They were convinced that nothing in Tennessee matched Kiwi country, until I reminded them of the scenery coming off the Cumberland Plateau to the Smokey Mountains. And the back highways of central Tennessee are very similar to this country. I guess that made them think a bit.
Anyway they had allocated 14 days for their Kiwi holiday, 4 days travel and 10 days to see the country. After all, New Zealand is only half the size of California, right?
The issue was, as they found out on arrival, that NZ is narrower and longer than California. The islands are separated by water that requires at least 3 hours on a ferry to cross, and we in fact have more coastline than the continental U.S.
They had spent two days in Aukland, a third day driving to Wellington, where they were going to get the ferry across to the South Island and spend two more days driving to Wanaka where the highlight of the trip was to take the same helicopter flight as had been filmed for the Mission Impossible Fallout movie.
They had already decided they needed to return to see more of the country, especially our two quite different coastlines.
They had missed out this trip on some very special things. The Northland experience, especially the Bay of Islands. The Waikato, including Hobiton. Taupo and Rotorua. They had driven right through Taupo that day but missed Rotorua, the Maori cultural capital of the country. Wellington, which is the overall culture capital, the wineries of Marlborough, The west coast of the South Island, and so much more.
As I told them a week in Auckland and Northland would only scratch the surface.Another week for much of the rest of the North Island (and that would entail missing the west coast) plus 10 - 14 days in the South Island. At least!
Now not everyone would want to do all of those things. But it really got me thinking. How much do travel consultants in the U.S. actually know about this country? Probably about as much as our travel consultants know about the U.S. Not much (I had one tell me that a week between Houston, Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans was sufficient to see everything. I told him only if you wanted to drive all day, every day, and see nothing but the inside of your car).
So to any forum member thinking of a visit to Kiwiland, drop me a line. Tell me how much time you have and what your interests are. I will give my advice quite freely.
Anyone thinking of coming here may be interested in this little story.
Some time before Covid I had the pleasure (well, pleasure for me, it cost the couple NZ$120 for excess speed) of meeting a young couple in their 30's from Clarksville, TN. He was a soldier in the US Army and was surprised I was aware of Fort Campbell until I told him that the nephew of a friend is based there.
We spoke of the different scenery between the two places. They were convinced that nothing in Tennessee matched Kiwi country, until I reminded them of the scenery coming off the Cumberland Plateau to the Smokey Mountains. And the back highways of central Tennessee are very similar to this country. I guess that made them think a bit.
Anyway they had allocated 14 days for their Kiwi holiday, 4 days travel and 10 days to see the country. After all, New Zealand is only half the size of California, right?
The issue was, as they found out on arrival, that NZ is narrower and longer than California. The islands are separated by water that requires at least 3 hours on a ferry to cross, and we in fact have more coastline than the continental U.S.
They had spent two days in Aukland, a third day driving to Wellington, where they were going to get the ferry across to the South Island and spend two more days driving to Wanaka where the highlight of the trip was to take the same helicopter flight as had been filmed for the Mission Impossible Fallout movie.
They had already decided they needed to return to see more of the country, especially our two quite different coastlines.
They had missed out this trip on some very special things. The Northland experience, especially the Bay of Islands. The Waikato, including Hobiton. Taupo and Rotorua. They had driven right through Taupo that day but missed Rotorua, the Maori cultural capital of the country. Wellington, which is the overall culture capital, the wineries of Marlborough, The west coast of the South Island, and so much more.
As I told them a week in Auckland and Northland would only scratch the surface.Another week for much of the rest of the North Island (and that would entail missing the west coast) plus 10 - 14 days in the South Island. At least!
Now not everyone would want to do all of those things. But it really got me thinking. How much do travel consultants in the U.S. actually know about this country? Probably about as much as our travel consultants know about the U.S. Not much (I had one tell me that a week between Houston, Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans was sufficient to see everything. I told him only if you wanted to drive all day, every day, and see nothing but the inside of your car).
So to any forum member thinking of a visit to Kiwiland, drop me a line. Tell me how much time you have and what your interests are. I will give my advice quite freely.
