New Zealand, Part 6 : Things to try, eat and buy!

This is the last of a 6 part blog on a trip to New Zealand. Parts 1-5 are here, here, here, here and here.

It's a gorgeous country with plenty to do but what fun is a trip without eating, trying and buying local delights? This post has details of food and shopping experiences we had and some recommendations based on those.

Whittakers chocolate: Eat all you can, and bring us back some. We tried many, many flavors, the milk chocolate was by far and away our favorite. It's worth the hype, people. Yes, it's possible to source this locally in the US, but somehow it just doesn't taste the same. The taste of the holidays in paradise? Possibly.

Marmite: This was something the locals urged us to try. It's evidently made from yeast extract and is used as a spread/side for everything from toast to crackers and all baked goods. We tried it, and....um, let's just say it's likely an acquired taste? Not a fan.

L&P: This local favorite was one of my kids' favorite addictions. Sweetened soda - need I say more?

Hokey Pokey!: If the kids get to have a favorite, so does mom! This is basically honeycomb flavored ice cream, don't ask me why it's called that, but do eat it!

Kapiti ice cream: I cannot, cannot do a fair job of explaining this. Nothing, I repeat, nothing I say can do this justice. We ate at least 2-3 bars everyday, and sometimes started our day with this for breakfast (some of the flavors had orange or raspberries in them, so we figured that was healthy, ok?).  Yim!

Jaffas: Sweet candy. They just seemed like sugar coated chocolate balls to me, but they clearly have a cult following locally, so much so that there's an annual "Jaffa-race" in Dunedin! Worth the hype or not, was fun to try.

To bring back home:

Honey: Honey, glorious honey! NZ has some amazing varieties of honey, the most famous of which, of course, is the Manuka honey. I looked and looked and looked at every variety/brand/store of Manuka honey (heck, we even visited a honey harvesting farm), but man, the prices are steep. I finally gave in and bought us a tiny bottle of UMF 15 Manuka honey out of curiosity for all its purported health benefits, only to find that our local Costco(!!) has the exact same brand, certification and price. If you do feel like indulging in Manuka, do check the certification before you splurge.
Separately, I also picked up a few other bottles of flavored honey - ginger honey was our favorite!

Lanolin: This I do recommend: really rich, softening cream made from sheep's wool, excellent moisturizer for the winter. This is especially recommended for breastfeeding moms as nipple cream, but is wonderful for general skin care as well.

Mud packs: Rotorua mud seems to be a very popular thing for all skincare products from face washes to body soaps to cleansers. Makes for a good gift!

Merino wool: Sigh. Gorgeous, lightweight, super warm wool for a whole slew of woolen products. Completely un-itchy too. Why do I sigh? Price, people, price. If you can afford it, do splurge!

Jade jewelry: Every nook and cranny in NZ boasts of local Jade, apparently it's not the easiest to find authentic, high quality jade. Also, the locals believe that jade's medicinal/healing properties (mystic charm?) work their best when the product is gifted, rather than purchased for self. I bought a few for my niece and sister in law, and some small presents for friends. Again, the good stuff is quite expensive.

Paua jewelry: If jade is what you'd wear to the snooty cousin's upper west side wedding, Paua is what you'd wear to brunch with your girl gang. Light, wearable and inexpensive in versatile, vibrant colors - what's not to love?

New Zealand, Part 5 : South Island Highlights-2

This is part 5 of a 6 part blog on a trip to New Zealand. Parts 1-4 are here, here, here and here.

After all the adventuring in Queenstown, we drove into the sleepy town of Te Anau as a base for our trip to Milford Sound. Honestly, you could likely spend a good week or two just in the Fiordland area, but given that we didn't have that luxury, we did the next best things we could. We lucked out and had a large, lovely home to ourselves thanks to AirBnB, the town itself is a cozy mix of small restaurants, a tiny downtown area (more jade shopping abounds), and a casual, easy demeanor. Almost everyone we met was a tourist en route to Milford Sound as well, so we spent some time swapping stories about where we'd come from and what was next.

Tours from Te Anau to Milford Sound are plentiful. We had a few considerations for ours: after all the driving we had done until now, we preferred an option that would drive us right out of Te Anau and back (so we wouldn't have to drive ourselves), we wanted something slow-paced - given the # of tourists flocking to Milford late December, we didn't want to be rushed in and out, and we wanted to check out the areas around Milford a bit, in spite of not driving. So we optimized for all of these and couldn't be happier. Pro tip #1: Keep in mind there are plenty tours that can drive you from Queenstown to Milford and back too, you don't really need to stay at Te Anau, but if at all you can, try to visit Milford from Te Anau. the drive from Queenstown is upwards of 4 hours one way, where as the drive from Te Anau was a little less than 2, so we got to spend plenty more time enjoying the place than on the road itself.

Day 13: The drive from Te Anau to Milford is incredibly pretty in itself. Our driver was a young NZ native, born and raised in Te Anau all his life and took us along some lovely routes slightly off the beaten path. Pro tip #2: If at all possible, plan your Milford Sound day after checking the weather. We had the extreme good fortune of crisp, bright sunshine rendering our excursion near perfect. I've heard from folks that on a wet, cloudy day the Sound takes on a different aura and beauty, but I've also heard several folks (especially those with young children) complain that the visit didn't really do much for them with overcast skies. The area does get about 6m of rain a year, so you'll have to really beat the odds to get a nice sunny day.  En route to Milford Sound, we stopped at different points of Mirror lake (gorgeous), Monkey creek, Knobs flat, the light, but lovely Chasm waterfall, the Homer tunnel and a few other spots where our guide would just point something out, someone would squeal and we'd promptly pull over for a stop. The entire drive is enjoyable - if you have the time to spend on it and good sunshine on your back. When we got to Milford, we spent maybe 10-15 mins walking around the area, and then hopped on our cruise. This is likely a big hit-or-miss experience as well. When we went, the waterfalls were several - some tall and delicate, some fierce and forceful, several seals bathing in the sun and a large family of dolphins playing so close to our boat. Other friends of ours that had visited told us the waterfalls were barely a trickle and that the overall visit was pleasant, but not spectacular. I suppose this has to do with how much recent rainfall there has been, but I'd be surprised if anyone came away feeling completely unmoved by what definitely feels like the end of the world.

One of the many lovely treks en route to Milford

On the Milford cruise

Beautiful mirror lake

Stopping at another waterfall/lake on the way

On the drive back, there's the Key Summit hike to do if you'd like, offering spectacular views of all of Fiordland but if you choose not to do that, there's several smaller hikes to do as well. We kept running into the little kea bird wherever we stopped, the children had a ton of fun chasing after them, and being regaled by our guide about the bird's many antics and skills. Side note: The Routeburn track was drooled over aplenty, and a note made to come back to later in life. Sigh, if only we had all the time for all the beauty in the world.

Day 14: For the last segment of our trip, we really wanted to spend significant time at Mt.Cook, but since almost all of our planning was very last minute, we couldn't make this happen as optimally as we would have liked. We ended up having to stay at Fairlie, which really isn't a terrible choice for visiting Mt.Cook, but you could likely do better. We spent most of the day driving from Te Anau to Fairlie, we took a long, scenic route driving right next to the ocean for a good stretch and stopping at the lovely city of Dunedin for lunch. I would have loved to spend more time in this historic city, the city center and the architecture there in were absolutely gorgeous. We drove into Fairlie pretty late, and settled into our BnB for the night. Warning: this really isn't a very large town at all, it's quite tiny with minimal options especially for vegetarians. There's one supermarket that was also closed by the time we got in, but luckily there was one tiny restaurant that was open and had some veggie options.

Day 15:  We drove into Mt.Cook early morning from Fairlie, about a 2 hour drive from our B&B allowing for stops on the way. Pro tip #2: This is definitely one of those places you want to have printed maps for. GPS gave up really early on our car, and there's no spot of signal for you to be able your phone navigational apps. Print the maps, plan the time and set out accordingly. Lake Tekapo is a lovely side stop along the way and is great for bike rides around the lake (we sadly didn't have the time). Lake Pukaki is also really pretty and pleasant, but if you are hard pressed for time, go to one of these and then head on to Mt.Cook. It feels like a long, barren drive but get up there into the village and it's all worth it.  We stopped for lunch first, and then spent the next 2 hours going on small, easy hikes in this far removed paradise. Pro tip #3: If you can rent bikes in advance, do! The area is lovely for rides, but we were too late for them. In every direction, the Southern Alps scrape the sky, Aoraki gracefully beaming down upon mortals with a special benevolence. If there's one complaint I have about our trip, it is that we did not have enough time in this lovely area. Later in the afternoon, we went on a boat trip up to the Tasman glacier. First off, it's hard to believe there's a water body in the midst of this hilly terrain, but you walk 15 minutes and Lo and behold! There are many glaciers in this park, but Tasman is (likely) the largest. This was a huge, huge hit with the kids. While we were on the boat, a huge chunk of ice broke off from the main glacier and floated out towards us, and changed colors white -> light blue -> dark blue -> clear, and the kids got to pick up a piece of the glacier from the water and watch it change colors as we went. Truly a magnificent and simultaneously humbling experience - Mt.Tasman and Aoraki on either side, the giant glacier in the middle and watching nature do her thing amidst it all. Also an inherent theme of sadness knowing how global warming has so materially and obviously affected this part of the world, but at least a lovely educational and enjoyable experience for the little ones.

                                                                   
                                                                      Lovely short hikes up in the village

                                                  
                                                 A giant blob of ice chipped away from the glacier and floated up to us!

Day 16:   Another long driving/travel day. We drove back up to Christchurch, and took a plane to Wellington. Another city we'd have loved to spend time in, but couldn't spend beyond about 4-5 hours. Lovely waterfront, beautiful bike areas, gorgeous weather. We hung out by the water for a long time, the kids rode bikes, we ate more local ice cream and  then flew back into Auckland for the night.


Day 17 and 18:  We spent the next 2 days back in Auckland city, exploring local sights. Went to a surprisingly large and fun underground aquarium, visited large, expansive parks, went up the famous Auckland Sky tower , and ate a lot more cheese and ice cream. We flew out of Auckland on Day 19, stopped at Fiji for a night (so needs a dedicated, long trip!) and then came back home to SFO.

Some fun shopping and eating trips next!