Have you been following along with all of my Niue posts? If you have, then by now you know Niue has some seriously unique geography. Niue is a coral atoll in the middle of the South Pacific. It withstands the beating of ocean waves against its limestone shores resulting in some truly stunning coastal rock formations.
During my time in Niue, I had the chance to venture out and explore some of the island’s most famous natural geographical wonders. I also stumbled upon a few lesser known, but equally as beautiful locations. Whether hiking through the jungle, strolling down sea tracks, or biking across the entire island, I trekked my way across the bumpy “Rock of Polynesia” only to be wowed again and again.
The SCUBA diving in Niue is world class. And it's a lot different than the experience I had diving elsewhere over this past year. I received my diving certification from Ko Tao in Thailand a year ago. Since then I went diving in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. These dive sites were amazing but none of them had the underwater creatures or rock formations Niue had!
Before arriving to Niue, I had heard about its amazingly high visibility and unique sea snakes populating the waters. I had also heard about the possibility of bumping into, or at the very least hearing the songs of, humpback whales while diving there. What topped it all for me were Niue's extravagant underwater caves and catacombs! I had a top notch experience diving Bubble Cave, Snake Gully, and other cavernous dive sites around Niue where the creepy and the beautiful come together under the sea.
Planning ahead has worked very little on my trip. Going with the flow, allowing each moment to take me in new directions has always proved to lead to the best experiences. So when Carolina told me she was going to have to fly into Christchurch instead of Queenstown, I simply shrugged my shoulders and said, “See you there!”
This change in plans took me and Birgit on another route deviation. We were at the perfect junction to turn inland from the West Coast and cross the center of the South Island back over to Christchurch. We ended up traveling along New Zealand’s Great Alpine Highway. This area of the Canterbury region was so spectacular and filled with adventures, it was worth retracing the route with Carolina a week later. From pie-eating and caving to camping and hiking, these are the highlights from my Great Alpine Highway drive.
Thinking about flying into Auckland near the top of New Zealand’s North Island? Only have a short amount of time to spend traveling New Zealand? Maybe you’re flying out of Wellington or from somewhere on the South Island and need to plan out your itinerary to get you there from Auckland. You deserve to see awesome things no matter how much or how little time you have!
Luckily, my best friend and I did all of the following (and more!) on a road trip from Auckland to Wellington in just 10 days. It’s perfect for someone looking to get a good taste of New Zealand on a time budget. Included are some tourist favorites as well as some spots requiring a bit of deviation.
