Ticking Things Off the Travel Bucket List in New Zealand and Australia.
At the Green School in Bali the winter break is inordinately long. I’m talking 30 days. That sizeable amount of time off can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s a looooooong time to keep the kids entertained but it’s also an opportunity to do some serious traveling.
Many expat families in Bali return home – predominantly to Europe, Japan or the U.S. to see loved ones. While we missed home and love a snowy Christmas, the idea of flying to the other side of the world and back again was not so appealing especially when there is so much to explore on Bali’s doorstep (if that’s what you can call a five-hour flight). Living in this part of the world is also temporary for us so I figured we might as well use the break to tick a few things off our bucket list. Tops among them: snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef and visiting New Zealand’s South Island known for its breathtaking Lord of the Rings scenery.
Here’s a top ten of our favorite memories of New Zealand and Australia.
The winter break at the Green School in Bali is inordinately long: 30 days. That sizeable amount of time off can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s a looooooong time to keep the kids entertained but it’s also an opportunity to do some serious traveling.
Many expat families in Bali return home – predominantly to Europe, Japan or the U.S. to see loved ones. While we missed home and love a snowy Christmas, the idea of flying to the other side of the world and back again was not so appealing especially when there is so much to explore on Bali’s doorstep (if that’s what you can call a five-hour flight). Living in this part of the world is also temporary for us so I figured we might as well use the break to tick a few things off our bucket list. Tops among them: snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef and visiting New Zealand’s South Island known for its breathtaking Lord of the Rings scenery.
Here’s a top ten of our favorite memories of New Zealand and Australia.
1. SYDNEY – our first stop down under was in Sydney’s Bondi beach – a place that instantly reminded me of Southern California with its beach bungalows and burger joints. The only difference…it was freezing! Unseasonably cold and windy. But after months of sweltering heat and humidity in Bali, the colder weather was a welcome respite. It also provided us with an excuse to engage in a little retail therapy at a mall since we had absolutely no warm clothes. We saw a 3D movie (“Avatar; the Way of Water”), had some dim sum and did some Christmas shopping. My nine year old was thrilled to find an arcade and a Lego store. I was thrilled to find a Uniqlo that sold light sweaters and raincoats. I usually hate malls but after being in the jungle and the beach for so long, I actually enjoyed the experience. It felt a little like being home at a time when both of us were homesick.
The next day we hopped on a ferry that gave us a tour of Sydney’s magical harbor. We floated under the Sydney Harbor Bridge and walked by the exquisite Sydney Opera House, which looks even better up close. The more than a million eggshell colored tiles that make up the sails of the structure are simply dazzling. I can’t believe the Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, never saw his masterpiece. A fight over rising costs and a refusal by the Australian government to pay for his full vision lead him to abandon the project and protests ensued. He never returned to Australia.
To learn more about Utzon, check this out:
https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/our-story/the-architect-jorn-utzon.html
That day we also stumbled upon a Christmas market, one of my favorite things in the world, with loads of yummy food and colorful holiday decorations.
On our third and last day in Sydney we took a rain-soaked walk along the coast from Bondi to Bronte to witness the waves crashing into the rocks as well as the infamous swimming pools filled with seawater right by the shore. We also ran into a flock of wild parrots. I had no idea Sydney was home to them. It was one of the many surprising things we’d discover about Australia.
For more on the coastal walk, check this out:
https://www.sydney.com/things-to-do/nature-and-parks/walks/bondi-to-coogee-coastal-walk
2. GO CARTING IN QUEENSTOWN – our next stop was Queenstown. It’s known as the adventure capital of New Zealand. There’s skydiving, hang gliding and whitewater rafting. It’s home to the world’s first commercial bungy jump and there’s even a human catapult. We did none of those things. I might have done them in a past lifetime but not with my nine-year-old son. One way in which motherhood has changed me is that it has substantially lowered my tolerance for hair-raising activities. Instead we opted for the highly entertaining luge rides at the top of Bob’s Peak. You take a skyline gondola with views of Lake Wakapitu to get there and then zip down the hill in a luge. The look of pure evil on Jamie’s face when he was about to slam into my luge is one I’ll never forget.
https://www.skyline.co.nz/en/queenstown/things-to-do/skyline-luge-queenstown/mi
3. CRUISING BY WATERFALLS IN MILFORD SOUND – my old roommate from New York, a kiwi living in Spain who has the best travel ideas ever, said we MUST see Milford Sound – a fjord on the west coast of the South Island that was featured in “Lord of the Rings”. He failed to mention how insanely remote it is. Google maps says it takes 3.5 hours to drive there from Queenstown but that’s wildly inaccurate. It takes between five and six hours EACH WAY. I questioned the wisdom of a ten-to-twelve-hour drive for a two-hour cruise but decided to go for it anyway. Ballsy with a nine-year old, I know. But New Zealand is so very far away from home and who knows when we’ll be back. I also love road tripping. So long as I’ve got some good tunes and pretty scenery, I’m good. Jamie was given unprecedented access to his iPad so there was no squawking from the back seat.
The cruise took us past exquisite waterfalls and to the opening to the Tasman Sea. It was windy and cold. We saw a few seals but sadly no orcas or whales even though they do occasionally enter the sound. The whole trip was guided by a well-informed and comedic Brit.
You can either self-drive to Milford Sound and meet the boat there like we did. Or you can catch a coach to and from Queenstown. For more info, check this out:
https://www.realnz.com/en/experiences/cruises/milford-sound-cruises/
So, was it worth it? My son says NO (I hope one day he’ll reflect back on this and change his mind). I say YES. That’s in large part because I loved the drive. The roads are seamless in New Zealand. We motored past rolling hills dotted with sheep, fields covered in colorful lupins and barren areas with large boulders. It is one of the most scenic drives in the world – right up there with the drive from LA to Carmel on the PCH and Chapman’s Peak Drive in Cape Town. My only piece of advice…break up the drive by overnighting in Te Anau, a not-so-interesting town a couple of hours outside of Queenstown.
4. PANNING FOR GOLD IN ARROWTOWN – Arrowtown is a gold mining village close to Queenstown that is oozing with charm. The precious metal was discovered there in 1862 and the village briefly boomed before its resources were quickly depleted. There’s a cute little museum dedicated to the town’s history as well as a historic Chinese settlement that chronicles the lives of the Chinese gold miners who moved to Arrowtown seeking their fortunes. You can still pan for gold in the nearby river but good luck finding anything! The real gem lies is in the surrounding area that is ripe for hikes. The village itself is also worth a visit with its chic boutiques, art galleries and a gorgeous pub on the village green. I wish I had discovered Arrowtown before Queenstown because that’s where I’d want to stay. Next time!
To learn more about Arrowtown’s Chinese settlement, check this out:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/arrowtown-area/things-to-do/arrowtown-chinese-settlement/
5. GAZING AT MAGESTIC MT. COOK – At a height of more than 3700 metres, Mt.Cook is New Zealand’s highest peak. We didn’t drive anywhere near the top but we got a sensational view of the snow-capped mountains from the turquoise Lake Tekapo, which is where we stayed for the night to break up the drive from Queenstown to Christchurch. The town is known for its stargazing because of its lack of light pollution. There’s a tiny church right by the lake with a parking lot which is a perfect spot from which to view the night’s sky. The drive to Tekapo is an experience in itself taking you past wineries, farms and over Lindi’s pass.
6. STAYING IN A “BACH” IN CHRISTCHURCH – the best Christmas present we got this year was two nights at my friend’s “bach” (modest beach house) in Taylor’s Mistake, a bay in a suburb of Christchurch with only a handful of homes. I instantly fell in love with the tiny blue house with its rustic surf décor. Decorated by my friend’s sister, no detail was overlooked. It has quirky crockery and a place for everything. We spent Christmas morning there opening our stockings overlooking the beach and surfers. We then walked along the path to a gorgeous hike right above the bach with views of the vast ocean. Being without family on Christmas isn’t easy but this experience made it just a little bit sweeter and a memory I’ll never forget.
7. HIKING IN ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK – A multi-hour hike in a National Park was NOT my son’s idea of fun. I don’t blame him. I felt exactly the same when I was about his age and my parents dragged me up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. But years later, trekking is one of my favorite activities and we’re not in New Zealand every day so….we were doing it, whether he liked it or not!
We started our journey by taking a 45-minute ride in a water taxi from Kaiteriteri, a bustling beach area, to Anchorage Bay. The walk from there to Medlands Beach takes about four hours in low tide. You trek through a mucky riverbed, into coastal forests, past a small waterhole and over a suspension bridge. You end up in a largely deserted bay with the most dazzling blue water imaginable. But it’s best viewed from a distance. The water is glacially cold and swimming in it is not for the faint of heart. Nevertheless, it was a joy to witness.
But what was even more enjoyable for me was to see my son’s gradual change of mood. There was lots of grumbling at the beginning but with time he resigned himself to the fact that we were DOING THIS and eventually got into the flow of it all. In the end, he begrudgingly admitted that it wasn’t all bad (the turquoise water helped) and I think he learned an important lesson related to mind over matter. To top it all off, we found the most exquisite waterhole on our drive back to our Airbnb and jumped off the rocks into the sparkling water. And hurray, it wasn’t freezing!
8. WINE TASTING IN MARLBOROUGH – the wine in Bali absolutely sucks. The majority of it is plonk. Unless you want to spend a fortune on mediocre imported wine, it’s better to drink beer. I’m not really a beer drinker so as a result I’ve largely been alcohol-free while living in Bali. This made arriving in the wine making capital of New Zealand a total treat. The Marlborough region is known for its Sauvignon Blanc wines but we spent two nights at an Airbnb on a family-owned-and-operated vineyard specializing in Pinot gris. One of the perks of sleeping on a vineyard is you don’t have to drive anywhere after wine-tasting. A perfect set-up for a single mother traveling with child. The wine was divine and I stumbled back to our studio in a state of bliss.
Here’s a link to the winery. They not only do wine tastings but they also have a lovely airbnb on their vineyard. http://www.gibsonbridge.co.nz/home.shtml
9. HUGGING A KOALA AND COCKTAIL HOUR IN BRISBANE – When I told people we were headed to Brisbane, the overwhelming response I got from the Aussies in Bali was “why?” The city doesn’t appear to have the best reputation. Perhaps it’s because of a legacy of corruption or perhaps it’s not as cultural as Sydney or Melbourne. I distinctly got the feeling that I made a mistake.
The main reason we went to Brisbane was to visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the first and largest koala sanctuary in the world. Koalas top the list of my son’s favorite animals and I’m a big fan too. How could you not be? It’s a pretty special place where you can get up close with a koala as well as other marsupials like kangaroos and wallabies. They also have a really good birds-of-prey show with the birds taking flight right over you at top speed. It’s a good thing I didn’t pop my head up for a better view. I might have ended up like Anne Boleyn. To get there, you can take a boat from downtown Brisbane which cruises past some of the city’s historic buildings. We took the Miramar cruise, which had a great tour guide on board.
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Discover Brisbane’s Koala Sanctuary – Australian Wildlife, Family Fun
I also discovered New Farm, a cool neighborhood right by Brisbane’s thriving riverside bar scene, which I loved. I think the city unfairly gets a bad rap. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
10. SWIMMING WITH TURTLES IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF – I gave ourselves four nights in Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef because exploring it has been on the top of my bucket list for years and I wanted to do it right. Doing it with a nine year old who had only snorkeled once limited things a little but we still had a great time.
Our first excursion to the outer reef, consisted of a visit to a pontoon that had all kinds of activities for kids including a slide and a submersible. We saw our fair share of parrot fish and corral. It was nice but a little too touristy for my liking. Jamie, of course, loved it.
Our second excursion out to the reef was much more enjoyable. We took a boat out to Frankland Island – a small deserted island that only those on the tour can visit. You basically spend the day out there visiting the nearby reef. We got lucky with the weather and the visibility. The water was crystal clear and a brilliant turquoise blue. The highlight was the 45 minute “snorkel safari” that took us out to a more remote part of the reef. There, we saw not one but four turtles. There were also banner fish, batfish, clownfish and a blue spotted ray. We swam over underground boulders that made me feel like we were flying over the Grand Canyon. The coral was not as colorful as I expected but the shapes were beautiful. Unfortunately, we were in peak stinger season, when deadly jellyfish are in the water, so we had to wear stinger suits the entire time. Nevertheless, it was a dreamy experience.
Here’s a link to the tour we did:
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On one of our last days in Cairns we hopped on an old-timey train that creaked up the mountain to a lovely village called Kuranda. The ride itself was like traveling in the past. It inches past waterfalls and gorges. In the town itself, there’s lots to experience from koala viewings to hikes. We opted to visit a bird sanctuary that turned out to be a blast. You’re warned to take off all your jewelry because the cheeky birds are apparently kleptos. The birds – parrots and macaws mainly – made themselves right at home – on our heads, shoulders and elsewhere. It’s a great place for fans of our winged friends.
Check this out for more info on the train ride:
https://www.ksr.com.au/Pages/Default.aspx
And here’s a link to the bird sanctuary:
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Getting back to Cairns was one of the best parts of the journey. You board a gondola that soars over the canopy of the Daintree Rainforest. You quite literally float back down to town. There are several stops along the way where you can exit the gondola and tour the nearby scenery. Spectacular photo opps abound.
After 27 days on the road, we were ready to head back to our home away from home in Bali. I’m so grateful that we were able to see and experience some truly spectacular things on our journey but I was left with the feeling that we’ve just scratched the surface in both New Zealand and Australia. These are two countries where the distances are vast and the beauty varied. I guess we’ll just have to return one day!
4 Comments
Christine Kearney
Fantastic roundup karina!
Victoria Mundell
Wow, the colour of that water is something else! You covered a lot of miles, what a trip to remember.
Jamie huber
I love that you are starting a blog! You really are the best mom in the entire universe! Oh, and also best wishes to you!
Hilary Brown
Karina’s blogs are terrific. Informative, well written, and with very good pictures. It helps that both the author and her lucky young son are very beautiful.