January 2015: New Zealand Makes It All Better [Vlog]
1 Feb 2015
Sometimes when I’m in the US or traveling somewhere else in the world, I feel a little silly about constantly waxing poetic about New Zealand. I mean, it’s great, right, but how can any place be THAT great? Clearly, I’ve built it up to be way more than it is with all my imaginings, yearnings and persuasive sermons (mainly inflicted upon my parents, who I think should retire here *hint hint nudge nudge*). Like, how could any place be THAT perfect?
This was what I was telling myself on our flight from Singapore. I was exhausted, stressed out, and concerned that my bicycle might be forever lost in the hellhole that is international shipping. I was feeling insecure about my (extremely big, ambitious) plans for the 2015 race season — I hadn’t even ridden my bike in six weeks. How did I expect to compete at a national/international level? I also hadn’t slept in I-have-no-idea-how-long and I could tell I was getting (ANOTHER) cold. So, I was a mess. Don’t, I told myself, expect that New Zealand is going to make it all better. It’s not perfect. It’s just like anywhere else.
Wrong, so wrong. New Zealand is a lot of things, but it’s not like anywhere else.
I don’t know how to explain it, but there is something about New Zealand that just makes things work out. For starters we were picked up at the airport by a friend who we had actually never met in person but who, in typical kiwi style, knew everyone we knew and thought, well, maybe, these poor saps would like a ride from the airport. Considering our previous not-very-well-thought-out plan involved a bus and hitch-hiking with all our bags, we accepted the offer. Thanks, Justin, you’re the bomb.
Then our bikes showed up with only a few frantic phone calls to DHL and UPS. And our car, the one we had left parked in a field for nine months, required only minor repairs (if you don’t count the removal of a lot of freaky looking spiders) and it even passed the daunting “warrant of fitness” on the first try. The real kicker, though, was that we found place to live in Queenstown for a rate we could actually sort of afford (a pretty solid feat if you know Queenstown) and the view…well, the view. You’ll have to watch the January edition of our vlog to fully understand…
Like, seriously, New Zealand. Are you for real?
I love NZ. Recently had my attention drawn to the new (ish) Te Araroa trail. I think it’s calling my name. :)
But even if it were not – NZ is my favorite place on the planet (other than Boulder, CO where I live! )
I’ve often wondered about the climate in NZ, I looked up the location of Queenstown in relation to the rest of the world (& me). https://goo.gl/maps/N5vMY
It looks like the North Island would be a lot warmer than the south. No matter, have a good time!
The North Island is definitely warmer, although not as much as you might expect. All of NZ is a maritime climate, so they don’t get the same highs/lows that we get in, say, the midwest. Queenstown can feel pretty hot because it’s drier than the North Island. Supposedly. It’s rained for the past three days, sooooooo I’m not convinced on that one. But when the sun is out it’s quite toasty!
I’m loving these vlogs :D
your home looks stunning! what a view!