The question & the answer

Why we explored New Zealand

I don’t know how many times we were asked why. Why are we travelling New Zealand and venturing to hard-to-reach places on foot? It surprised a lot of people, especially tourists, to find New Zealanders in the New Zealand wilderness exploring New Zealand. It’s weird, I know. But there really aren’t that many of us out there. We met a lot of hikers from other countries — Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and more — who were exploring our country in ways that I never had. They often knew about places that I had never heard of and seen things that I never knew existed. And, with the exception of a particularly patriotic Norwegian (I’m pretty sure he’ll play a starring role in the book), they almost always told us that New Zealand was the most beautiful place they had ever seen.

We were asked why a lot. Every time we met someone new in a hut or campsite, on the trail or in a town. Most people understood our reasons, many wished they could do the same (they can!) and only a few thought we were crazy.

Anyway, this is what we told people. Here are our answers to the question.

Ben

When I last left New Zealand I told myself I wouldn’t go anywhere else before I had travelled in my country. Then I went to India for a month with some friends. When I returned I told myself this is it, the next time I stepped out it would be through the backdoor and into the backyard. I knew New Zealand was going to be magical. I knew I had a lot to see (and now that I have been there and back I can see how much more there still is to see). I wanted to see the beauty and the majesty. It could have waited another year though, maybe. But the traps of the ‘real world’ were wearing thin. I wanted adventure. I wanted to start out again. Not to become anyone or anything. I cobbled together a plan and some friends threw ideas at me. I added some crazy ones to be later dropped and then I put it all in a backpack and I left.

Jonathan

I wanted to see my own country in all its glory before venturing overseas again because I know that what we have in our own backyard is just as, if not more, beautiful than anywhere else in the world. Yet I had hardly seen any of it. So many people get itchy feet or the travel bug and feel that they need to hop on an airplane to some exotic country in order to cure it, to feel like they’ve really done something. I was guilty of this. In fact, it was while I was in the Philippines last year that I realised how little of New Zealand I had actually seen. My Filipino friends would ask me about New Zealand — What’s this place like? — and I often had to tell them that I didn’t know. I had never been there. It was embarrassing. I have always been drawn to the wild but for too long I resisted. When the opportunity to travel the country with Ben came up I knew I had to go.

To get in touch, offer advice, tell us we’re crazy or invite one (or both) of us on a date, you can send me an email or a tweet.