Hi, my name is Sarah and I am from New Zealand. My travel philosophy is to go somewhere new every year – whether it’s a new country, city or even suburb in the city I live in. You can check out my blog at https://kiwiontheloose.com/ or find me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/kiwiontheloose/) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kiwiontheloose_/)

 5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Visit New Zealand

1. The scenery

Let’s face it New Zealand is gorgeous. Seaside towns neighbouring a colourful patchwork of plains leading up to snow-capped mountains, and that’s just on the South Island! New Zealand is known throughout the world has having an abundance of natural beauty and even some of its cities can hold their own – Wellington anyone? Whenever I see New Zealand featured in films or TV shows (think Lord of the Rings), I get a real buzz knowing that is my country being showcased and feel excited that other people are seeing what my country has to offer.

2. There’s loads of stuff to do

Want to surf in the morning and climb a mountain in the afternoon, no problem.

New Zealand has so many activities that I couldn’t possibly list them all here. No matter what you want to do, New Zealand has it. Want adrenaline based adventure? Then Queenstown is your place. Want to experience some of the best wine in the world? There are not many regions in the country that don’t produce wine – such as Wairarapa in the North Island, Marlborough at the top of the South Island or Canterbury. Want some cosmopolitan city life? Give Auckland’s Viaduct area a try. Or maybe you just want to relax and leave the stress of life behind, then Hamner Springs is the place for you.

There is so much to do in New Zealand that you need to take your time to fit everything in. People often ask me how long they should spend in New Zealand and I usually respond that at least two weeks on each island will give you just a taste of what the country has to offer.

 

3. Road Trip Heaven

The roads in New Zealand are pretty good. There are a lot of passing lanes; places to stop to enjoy the scenery and little communities scattered around with friendly locals. Whilst I haven’t done any road trips in the North Island for a very long time, I have explored a bit of the South Island and a couple of my favourite drives include driving from Christchurch to Aoraki/Mount Cook; driving up the West Coast and the Queen Charlotte Sounds Drive at the top of the South Island.

4. You can go from one side of the country to the other in just a few hours

You are never more than about 120 km from the sea in New Zealand which means you can easily experience different parts of country on the same day. Driving from Christchurch in the east to Westport in the west takes about 5 hours (with a couple of toilet stops along the way!) and takes you through dramatically different landscapes from the Canterbury Plains into the heights of the Southern Alps and then the forests of the West Coast.

5. It really is simply quite amazing

I may be biased (unashamedly actually) but to me, New Zealand is one of the best countries in the world to travel around. I don’t really know what else to say to convince you to come to New Zealand except that there must be a reason that this country tops a lot of bucket lists.

Guest post by Sarah from Kiwiontheloose blog

Thanks again to Sarah for this wonderful post about her homeland New Zealand.