I think we were asked this several times because we booked the trip so quickly and did very little planning before arriving. Even though we’ve known for years that this is a trip we wanted to take we had not spent much time researching what all there is to see and do. And honestly, we were not too worried about how it would play out. Some of the best trips we’ve been on were when we had a starting and end point in mind with no specific itinerary. Also, I think trips we’ve been on prior to this helped us prepare for going on this longer one.
When we arrived we stocked up on the free travel magazines from the airport and car rental place. We knew we were heading north first in NZ so we figured out what we wanted to see there and hit the road. Sometimes we’ll be driving along and see a sign for something and then check that out. And truly God has been so great about crossing our paths with people who have said something to confirm our next move or to give us completely new ideas.
As we were leaving the northern section of NZ above Auckland our plan was to head to Coromandel Peninsula next and check out Hot Water Beach. On the way we stopped to see a giant tree and then again to grab some lunch a bit later on. Both times, without either of us bringing it up, someone at both locations asked if we were going to Coromandel and highly recommended it. That was pretty cool. I wish we could have spent a bit more time exploring that area.
When we went to the South Island we were originally planning to make our way from the NW section down the west side and up the east side to fly out of Christchurch which is what many people do, but when we arrived in Murchison we looked at the weather forecast and it said solid rain for the next 7-10 days on the west side, but clear on the east. We decided to head to the east coast and do the opposite loop. We overheard someone in the hangout room of the hostel say the same thing so we felt good since we were not the only ones. It turned out to be a great idea since I left my nice down North Face jacket in Murchison and we were able to loop back and pick it up from the hostel a couple of weeks later. Also, we hit incredibly gorgeous clear weather by changing our route. Thank you Jesus!
We never planned on going to Kaikoura, but it turned out we had a few days to kill at the end of our time in NZ. Kaikoura is where the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit just a week after we arrived in New Zealand. That tempted us to want to go there and the roads literally reopened just days before we were to fly out of Christchurch so we spent Christmas there. It was amazing and we’re both glad we went. You can read more about that here.
The second leg of our trip was supposed to be 3.5 months in Australia driving the east coast from Cairns to Melbourne. Well, I met this lady in Hobbiton who was in the middle of doing a round-the-world trip who encouraged me to check out western Australia and said the flights were pretty cheap. Then I met an Austrian girl who poured my wine tastings in Marlborough, NZ who said she had done the same east coast trip we were planning to do in Australia. She talked about how long and boring the driving is and suggested we take some cheap flights to southeast Asia. Then Dave and I encountered a Canadian couple in Abel Tasman who said the same thing. So by the time we arrived in Murchison, NZ we were convinced to totally change our travel plans!
So we booked a one way flight to Perth. Then we booked a one way flight to Bali. Then once we arrived in Cairns and went on our live aboard dive trip we met two couples, one from Ireland and the other from San Diego who strongly recommended Thailand. So then we booked a one way flight from Bali to Thailand. Yeah, I know. Crazy stuff, but we’re excited. We’re not sure where to after that, but looks like most of February will be somewhere other than Australia. It is just so much cheaper to fly there from here than from home and since we have so much time planned here, why not? So stayed tuned! Who knows where we may be next. 🙂