New Zealand 2020

One photo from 2008

This year I am making a trip to New Zealand towards the end of summer hoping the weather will be nice in March. The direction, I am traveling means I will be revisiting some locations that I have not been to since 2008. Those photos are very few as I did not actually have my own camera back then, I was borrowing a family camera back then. This 2020 trip, I booked in November and used the money that I had left from the British Pounds from the 2019 trip around Europe.

In 2008, I ended up in Invercargil to see Burt Munro’s bikes, Franz Josef glacier and I went to Greymouth on the Tranzalpine train that operates to Christchurch. This 2020 trip means, I will be hopping back on that train for a scenic journey on the train with a stop at Arthur’s Pass and heading to Greymouth. Arthurs Pass is a location, I have wanted to visit since that first trip in 2008 and all I really know is that its a point where you can stop to go on the many hiking trails. I will then head to Nelson and onwards from there to Wellington. I will end up in Whangarei, which is the usual stop. The route between Greymouth and Nelson is something I have not done before and should be interesting.

I will be gone for 3 weeks and hopefully the weather will be kind especially when I have several tours lined up including one Brewery tour in Greymouth, I will get to see a small fraction of the Able Tasman National park via Nelson. I will also be doing some family history research while I am over there. I do start in Christchurch and have the plan to see the Airforce museum and the journey will end in Auckland. While I have already been to many locations in New Zealand over the years, there are still plenty that I have not been to before. New Zealand will always have something to offer.

There have been many changes since 2008 especially to technology. I can now use my phone for pictures and internet instead of a computer. I didn’t have a computer back then for blogs. Looking at my past emails, I have found the travel plans for 2008, which is really different to 2020. Although essentially the same. It was back then that I started doing Lord of the Rings tours. The places I stayed were different back then too as some of the booking systems have really changed. The bus service did not have internet back then either as it does now.