The Time I Hitchhiked with a Bachelor Party
Dear New Zealand,
Hey, Gorgeous. As I write to you, I am sitting on the floor of Auckland Airport, charging my laptop, phone, and power-bank as I wait for an AA check-in desk to open. I’ve decided to start writing open letters to each of the countries that I visit moving forward, to capture my memories as much as possible. Congrats! You’re my first.
What a fascinating three weeks it’s been! From road-tripping and hitchhiking with friends I met on Facebook to reviving my use of Couchsurfing for the first time in over 6 months, you’ve given me quite the adventure.
Before I dive in, I want to clarify: this letter is very personal. My intention is not to represent YOU as a whole to people who don’t know you—we’re both aware that there is so much more to you than what I will describe—but rather to record the smaller details that made my experience with you so unique and interesting.
Okay, here we go.
When I first arrived here in Auckland just over three weeks ago, it was a surreal experience. I’ve been wanting to visit you ever since early high school — long before I even considered myself a “traveler.” Did you know that before I settled on doing my 10-month “exchange” in Australia in 10th grade, my first thought was to come here and visit you?
Funnily enough, as I walked through the streets of downtown Auckland just over three weeks ago, I became so nostalgic upon seeing signs for Cotton On, The Coffee Club, and Woolworths (even though apparently “Woolies” is referred to as “Countdown” here… either way, I recognized the logo immediately!), which I had grown familiar with during my life in Australia.
I had a similar experience about 10 days later, when the woman I was couch-surfing with casually mentioned “Bunnings” in conversation. I don’t even remember what the inside of a Bunnings Warehouse looks like, but hearing this word for the first time in over 6 years snagged my attention, and it caused feelings of reminiscence to bubble up inside of me.
Australia isn’t the only country you reminded me of. I find that as I travel to more and more places around the world, I tend to draw a lot of connections between them. In your South Island, where I spent the second half of this trip, I noticed that the mountainous landscape reminded me of Austria and Patagonia. The mountain-lake combo was especially Patagonia-esque.
As I hiked the Tiki Trail in Queenstown a few days ago, the scenic views — a small town on tree-covered hills surrounded by a sparkling teal lake — also reminded me a bit of hilltop views in Hvar and Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Yesterday morning, I hiked Queenstown Hill, and as I sat alone atop the summit, admiring the magnificent mountains surrounding Lake Wakatipu and in the quiet hum of distant traffic, I couldn’t help but recall my solo trek up Niesen in Switzerland a few years ago.
Speaking of Switzerland, you are the only country I’ve ever visited to ever match Switzerland’s hostel prices. Except for my two nights in Lauterbrunnen, I’d never spent more than USD$30 for a hostel, and suddenly this was standard in New Zealand. I get it, it’s high season, and you haven’t been open to tourists for years. But your prices did catch me off-guard. (Also, what’s your deal with charging credit card fees for everything? For cash countries like Nicaragua, I get it. But EVERYONE uses cards here…)
I gotta say, I wasn’t impressed with your hostel options overall — despite how much they cost, the wifi was almost always terrible. Then again, I did appreciate the kitchens in the nicer hostels I stayed in. I’m not used to having a toaster oven or an AIR FRYER in my hostel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find any appliance I could possibly need in most places I stayed. I also appreciated the “boiling water” faucets, which made it easy to make instant noodles (oh yeah, and I love that I was able to find my favorite flavor of Indomie in Countdown and Four Square). I’ve never had these luxuries in hostels before.
In my few weeks with you, I admit there were a few other minor cultural differences that I never did get used to. Every time I crossed a street, I would look side to side the entire length of the crosswalk because I just couldn’t keep track of which direction a car should be coming from.
I’d get confused when a cashier would hand dollar coins back to me after I’d thought I’d given exact change for a donut or dinner — later I learned that I had grown used to handing over large $1 coins and smaller $2 coins when I was in Australia all those years ago, when the opposite is true here.
Also, one day at a convenience store in Arrowtown, the man behind the cash register eyed me suspiciously as I walked past the counter, grabbed a few “tomato sauce” packets laid out for the fries I’d just bought, and headed straight for the door. I hadn’t realized I was doing anything wrong until my friends stopped me, telling me that I had to pay for them — which I wouldn’t have had to do in the States.
I admit, I came to NZ with high expectations. I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help it! Like I said, I’ve literally wanted to visit you for at least 8 years, so how could I not? I’m thrilled to say that the natural scenery — which is what I was most excited about — of South Island in particular did not disappoint. I was awe-struck by the striking mountains and vibrant wildflowers.
On my first day in Queenstown last week, I tagged along to Glenorchy with my friend Nik (whom I’d connected with through the New Zealand Backpackers Facebook group) and two friends she’d met at her hostel, and I couldn’t contain my excitement when I saw the famous pink, purple, and yellow lupins I’d only ever seen in photos. Lupins have a special place in my heart, for more than just their beauty — seeing them made one thing very real: I’m actually in New Zealand!
Oh man, I’m about to tear up. I didn’t see nearly as much of you as is on my bucket list, and even though I’m choosing to leave, it’s finally hitting me that I’m about to say goodbye (for who knows how long) to the country I’ve held on a pedestal for so long.
I decided to wrap up my visit with you now because I have a limited amount of time to do a lot of specific travels over the next few months, and I currently don’t have the patience or time to keep waiting for my trip to pan out the way I hoped it would — renting or buying a campervan and road-tripping up or down the entire length of the two islands with a buddy.
When I arrived here last month, the only plan I’d settled on was a 6-day road-trip with Nicole, another girl that I’d met through that Facebook group. We’d originally discussed traveling for 3 weeks together and seeing much more of the country, but at the last minute, her plans changed. It was still a great week, and I will never forget our gorgeous drive up to Te Mata Peak, or our two hilarious days of hitchhiking that followed after our cheap rental car broke down. But I didn’t cross off any of my bucket-list items on that trip.
After Nicole and I parted ways, I took a bus up to Paihia, where I planned to spend at least a few days “figuring out my life,” and hopefully finding a new road trip buddy. Unfortunately, I ended up back in Auckland the day after I’d left, because it was the only place to get my laptop repaired after it got rained on. At this point, I’d spent more than 10 hours traveling to Paihia and back within a 32-hour time-span, and this Bay of Islands town just seemed like a bad omen, so I had no interest in returning.
So, after couchsurfing with the very warm and friendly Zhenxia for a couple nights in Auckland—we had a great weekend of cooking and cackling at Love Is Blind together—I flew down to Queenstown, figuring I’d eventually work my way back up to Auckland, hitting all of my bucket-list items on the way.
This didn’t happen.
As soon as I arrived in Queenstown, Nik — the girl I had originally discussed road-tripping with — messaged me to let me know that she was there too. Even though she’d arrived in Auckland the day after I had, we’d never gotten around to meeting up on the North Island, and she’d managed to see much more of both islands than I did. (After all, she’d already had a car rental organized, and she didn’t have to deal with a laptop-getting-rained-on fiasco.) So, we ended up spending the last 8 days of her New Zealand trip together in Queenstown and Te Anau.
Practically every day, we would meet up for dinner and introduce each other to new friends from our respective hostels, before going out for drinks or back to her hostel to play cards as a group. At one point, we went to an ice bar, which I had never even heard of before Queenstown.
From Te Anau, we visited Milford Sound together, which was INCREDIBLE. Other than losing my earbuds on the bus (I will never understand how they disappeared from my possession so quickly), it was a wonderful day.
A few days ago, when I was struggling to decide how to proceed with my time in New Zealand after she’d leave, Nik pointed out that I should’ve traveled with her from the beginning. Part of me wishes that I had — we’d gotten along as soon as we started messaging through Facebook, and I would’ve gotten to see Lake Tekapo and more of Taupo with her. I also probably never would’ve had to deal with the chaos of my laptop getting rained on. But another part of me would never give up the stories and memories I made during my first week in North Island—despite how far it strayed from what Nicole and I had envisioned.
Either way, I’m so glad that I got to meet Nik in Queenstown.
Alright, the AA desks are finally open (it’s 9:24am, and I’ve been waiting at this airport for over 10 hours—yikes), so it’s time for me to go check in for my flight to Dallas. Then I should probably brush my teeth and wash my face and find some hot water to make myself a pack of Indomie.
Love ya, New Zealand. Even though you have a culture of terrible inter-city transportation and hostel wifi, and you don’t allow travelers who are clearly in their 20s to enter your bars or accompany their friends to buy wine without carrying and showing you our passports (in contrast, I think the only time I got carded during my 4.5 months in Latin America was when I asked bartenders for a free birthday shot—and even then, half the bars didn’t care to see my driver’s license). I am so so grateful for the three weeks I got to spend with you. In general, I felt extremely safe and comfortable as a solo female traveler with you, and I will never forget your long summer days, your beautiful wildflowers, or your gorgeous mountains and clear lakes. I know I’ll be back.
Love,
Carmen
8 Dec, 2022
