Today’s Friday Travel Photo takes you to Bary, Italy – an unsuspecting port town on Italy’s east coast.
Fate would result in me spending a night here after traveling some 16 hours via train, bus, and ferry from Sicily. My goal was to catch a ferry to Athens – I unfortunately missed the ferry and ended up spending a night here.
Bari Italy Alleyway
I spent the evening wandering the cobblestone streets and taking in the feel of the place. It’s an excellent example of how unplanned changes to your travels may result in you finding your new favorite destination.
Do you have a photo you’d like featured here? Send it to matt (at) backpackingmatt (dot) com and I’ll gladly feature it with a link back to your blog.
Kia Ora. Thanks heaps for checking out my blog. After you read this post, please head on over to my latest project – Planit NZ. Planit NZ is a New Zealand travel guide and booking website I’m working on full time at the moment. You can research all things travel in New Zealand on the website, and you can also book hop on, hop off backpacker bus passes, small group tours or activities. I’m a web based New Zealand travel agent, and I’d appreciate you letting me help you plan and book your trip. Thanks!
Since arriving to New Zealand just over ten months ago, I’ve published loads of destination specific New Zealand backpacking advice. I still have plenty of New Zealand experiences and advice to share – yet often I find this is a country that is best described through a photo.
It’s a great place for aspiring photographers. Why? Almost every direction you turn, every road you drive down, and every new destination you visit, you’re greeted with a stunning vista, a snow capped mountain, a rugged beach, or vast expanses of green rolling hills.
It’s a pretty great place to take pictures.
Below you’ll find 20 of my favorite New Zealand views.
1) Raglan Sunset
Raglan Sunset
Raglan is an epic little surf town found about 90 minutes south of Auckland. It’s home to the world’s largest left hand break and has a great bohemian feel. Raglan is a town where you can go to the supermarket, pub, or cafe barefoot and not one person will judge you.
If you have any interest in throwing yourself off a bridge or out of a plane, then New Zealnd is the place for you. Pictured above is the Taupo Bungy which is the home of New Zealand’s highest water-touch bungy. Why wouldn’t you want to touch the water after jumping from 47 meters?
4) New Zealand Traffic Jam
New Zealand Traffic Jam
There are no shortage of sheep in New Zealand (we’re talking over 30 million), so don’t be surprised if you find yourself dealing with the odd road block of sheep.
5) Emerald Blue Waters of the Marlborough Sounds
Marlborough Sounds
To get from the North to the South Island of New Zealand, you’ll have to cross the Cook Strait. Your budget-friendly option is crossing the strait with Interislander. The crossing is billed as one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world – you’ll understand why on a clear day.
6) Marlborough Vineyards
Marlborough Vineyards
New Zealand is home to some excellent wines – specifically the Sauvignon Blancs of the Marlborough Region. There is no better way to take in this region than by a wine-tasting tour on a bike.
7) White Sands of Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman National Park
The South Island’s Abel Tasman National Park is filled with plenty of beaches very similar to this. The Abel Tasman Coastal Track can be experienced as a great one-day walk.
8 ) Big Franz Josef Glacier
Franz Josef Glacier
The Franz Josef Glacier is the world’s fastest moving glacier and moves at speeds of up to one meter a day. This budget travel video tells you the best ways to experience this fascinating area of New Zealand.
9) View from a Caravan
View from a Caravan
Caravans such as this one seem to be everywhere in New Zealand’s countryside. Every house you pass seems to have one parked out back – the perfect opportunity for a Kiwi weekend escape. I was lucky enough to live in one on New Zealand’s West Coast for three months. All its inconveniences aside (slightly smelly, leaky, had to run inside through West Coast rain storms to get to toilet/shower/kitchen/living area), you sure couldn’t beat the view.
10) West Coast Sunset
West Coast Sunset
Step outside the above caravan at sunset and this was your view. Not bad, eh?
A day trip on the West Coast should include a trip to Lake Matheson which will give you stunning mirror lake views of Mt Cook and Tasman. This shot was from just outside the cafe near the lake – a great place to relax after your hike around the lake.
13) Evening Sky Over the Pacific Coast
Kaikoura Sunset
Kaikoura on the South Island sits at the base of the Seaward Kaikoura Range on the Pacific Coast.
14) Pacific Coast Sunrise
Pacific Coast Sunrise
Wake up early on the Pacific Coast and you stand a chance of catching a sunrise shot similar to this one.
15) Geothermal Rotorua Lake
Geothermal Rotorua Lake
Rotorua is a bubbling hotspot of mud pools, boiling geysers, and smells strongly of sulfur. It’s a geothermal wonderland and worth no more than a day of your time.
16) Sperm Whale in Kaikoura
Sperm Whale in Kaikoura
Whale watching in Kaikoura is a must on your visit to the South Island. If you’re quick enough at the draw, you stand the chance of catching a shot like this.
17) Rugged West Coast
Rugged West Coast
The rugged, windswept West Coast of the South Island is home to glaciers, rainforests, and views of the Tasman similar to this. A drive down the West Coast is one of New Zealand’s 5 Best Drives.
18) View over Queenstown
View over Queenstown
Queenstown is one of New Zealand’s most epic towns. This shot from the top of the Queenstown Gondola gives you a good taste of the town’s setting.
19) Undiscovered Caitlans Coast
Undiscovered Caitlans Coast
The south coast of the South Island is home to one of New Zealand’s best kept secrets – the Caitlans Coast. Vast expanses of green rolling hills, unpopulated surf beaches and marine wildlife are only some of the reasons you should make sure you spend some time here.
20) Majestic Aoraki
Majestic Aoraki
Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand’s highest peak at 12,316 feet and stunning to see on a clear day form the shores of Lake Pukaki.
Have you been to New Zealand? Do you recognize these views? Or what is your favorite view in the Land of the Long White Cloud? Leave your comments below.
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After a week long hiatus, today’s Friday Travel Photo brings you to a pull-off on the Queenstown to Glenorchy Road.
On a clear day, it’s an epic 45 minute drive from busy Queenstown to the quaint little village of Glenorchy. The road twists, turns, and skirts along the shores of Lake Wakatipu with excellent views of Afton Peak and the surrounding mountains.
Once you arrive in Glenorchy, there are heaps of hikes in the area and the Routeburn Track starts 20 minutes outside of the village. After your hike, warm up by the fire with a pint of Speights at the Glenorchy Hotel – a great South Island pub.
On most days, this view would show the mountains in the distance rising from the vivid blue waters of Lake Wakatipu.
Clouds over Lake Wakatipu
On the evening I snapped these shots, the clouds had dropped to the lake level resulting in this stunning series of photos.
Clouds over Lake Wakatipu
It was an epic, if not freezing, place to watch the sunset.
Clouds over Lake Wakatipu
Do you have a photo you’d like featured here? Drop an email to matt <at> backpackingmatt <dot> com, and I’ll gladly feature it with a link back to your blog.
Kia Ora. Thanks heaps for checking out my blog. After you read this post, please head on over to my latest project – Planit NZ. Planit NZ is a New Zealand travel guide and booking website I’m working on full time at the moment. You can research all things travel in New Zealand on the website, and you can also book hop on, hop off backpacker bus passes, small group tours or activities. I’m a web based New Zealand travel agent, and I’d appreciate you letting me help you plan and book your trip. Thanks!
New Zealand. The Land of the Long White Cloud. Aoteroa. Whatever you call it, NZ is a country that heaps of backpackers flock to each year.
And for well deserved reasons.
New Zealand is easy to travel around, offers up fascinating landscapes in a compact sized area (think glaciers, rainforests, and beaches within a twenty minute drive of each other), and is home to a variety of thrilling adventure sports (think skydiving, bungy jumping, river sledding, and jetboating). If your idea of adventure isn’t jumping out of airplanes or off bridges, New Zealand will win you over with its world famous wine or scenic drives.
So you want to come on a backpacking trip or a gap year to New Zealand. I don’t blame you. Yet where should you go? What should you see?
If you’re planning a trip to New Zealand, these are 5 places I don’t think you can miss.
1) Bay of Islands (North Island)
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands north of Auckland are a must see on your backpacking trip to New Zealand. Think blue-green waters, white sand beaches, sun, and (you guessed it) tropical islands.
The main town in the Bay of Islands is Paihia and is an ideal spot to base yourself for your time in the Northland. Paihia is a busy little town with plenty of hostels, heaps of bars, and sits directly on the bay. You’re within a days drive of 90 Mile Beach and can escape the resort like feel of Paihia with a quick ferry ride across the bay to historic Russell.
While you’re here you’ll have no shortage of things to do – spend your days sailing around the islands, dolphin watching, diving, kayaking, or simply soaking up the sun on the Paihia beachfront. To get a taste of everything the Bay has to offer, consider an overnight cruise on The Rock.
2) Coromandel Peninsula (North Island
Coromandel
The Coromandel Peninsula is quick one hour long ferry ride or three hour drive away from Auckland. It’s a welcomed escape from the busy (and I’d argue) characterless city of NZ’s North Island.
Coromandel offers up a varying combination of beaches, quaint fishing villages, and has great hiking options with the mountainous spine splitting the peninsula in half. A visit here isn’t complete without sampling Coromandel town’s famous smoked mussels, soaking the day away in your own private and personally dug spa at Hot Water Beach, or getting a real taste for Kiwi ingenuity at the Driving Creek Railway.
3) Lake Taupo (North Island)
Creative Commons: Friar’s Balsam
Smack dab in the center of the North Island is New Zealand’s (and Oceania’s) largest freshwater lake. Lake Taupo formed thousands of years ago after a massive volcanic eruption and is simply a crater filled with water. A very deep crater with its deepest point being over 600 feet deep. On the North Shore of the lake is the town of Taupo – a busy little town rightly worn onto New Zealand’s backpacker trail.
Lake Taupo presents plenty of opportunities for the backpacker. It’s the most famous spot in New Zealand to skydive and you can only imagine the view of Lake Taupo from 15,000 feet. If you’re still keen to defy gravity, consider the Taupo Bungy which at 47 meters is the highest water touch bungy in New Zealand. Your visit to Taupo arguably wouldn’t be complete without a go at trout fishing. Lake Taupo and the rivers feeding into are home to the best trout fishing in the world.
With heaps of hostels, plenty of outdoor activities, and a busy nightlife scene, chances are you might spend a bit longer in Taupo than you originally anticipated.
4) Kaikoura (South Island)
Kaikoura
Kaikoura sits in an absolutely epic spot at the base of the Seaward Kaikoura Range. While the town itself leaves quite a bit to be desired, its picturesque location and the nearby marine wildlife make up for anything the town itself is lacking.
Thanks to a combination of ocean currents and a unique continental shelf found offshore, Kaikora’s coast is home a a huge variety of marine mammals – think bus sized Sperm Whales and playful Dusky Dolphins. Whale Watch Kaikoura guarantees you’ll spot a whale on their whale watch tours (otherwise they’ll give you a hefty refund) and a couple companies will take you swimming with the dolphins.
The main street in Kaikoura offers up a couple decent bars for you to spend your evening in and the bakery does a bloody good Kiwi meat pie for your breaky the next morning.
5) Queenstown (South Island)
Queenstown
Queenstown sits in a unbeatable location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and offers up stunning views of The Remarkables mountain range. This small resort town offers up something to please even the most dedicated of thrill-seekers – you can do it all in Queenstown, just make sure you bring enough cash.
You’ll want to add bungy jumping at one of AJ Hacketts three bungy jump sites to your list as well as a trip on the famous Shotover Jet. If you’re keen to relax, consider a scenic hike up Queenstown Hill or go for a drive to sample some of the famous Otago Pinot Noir from nearby wineries.
The nightlife scene in Queentown is sure to satisfy the backpacker looking for a good night out. With new bars and clubs popping up monthly, don’t be surprised if you’re coming home at 5am after drinking and dancing the night away.
New Zealand is bound to impress you regardless of where you travel. It’s a country with fascinating landscapes everywhere you turn, friendly locals, and is extremely backpacker friendly.
Have you traveled to New Zealand? Add your favorite destination in the comments section below.
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Kia Ora - I'm Matt. Adventurer, Instagrammer and New Zealand travel planning expert living in Queenstown, NZ. Founder of Planit NZ - New Zealand's largest travel planning & booking website.
Hello! I’m Matt. Thanks for checking out my blog. Be sure to follow me on Instagram for loads more New Zealand travel inspiration. Comment on one of my photos so I know you came from here!
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Backpacking Matt 
