If you’re planning on taking a backpacker hop-on, hop-off bus around New Zealand, you have two options: Stray New Zealand or Kiwi Experience. I’ve always recommended Stray over Kiwi, not based on experience but rather feedback from other travelers who have traveled with one or the other.
When planning a trip to New Zealand, one thing you’ll have to determine is whether you want to spend more time on the South Island or more time on the North Island.
No surprisingly, this is one of the most common questions I get from backpackers planning their time in New Zealand – which is better? It’s not quite that simple, and earlier this week over on Planit NZ I wrote a blog post that outlined 5 reasons why you should visit the North Island and 5 reasons why you should visit the South Island.
In my recent trip to Ireland, I was reminded of a couple things about the Emerald Isle. The pubs in Ireland are fantastic, the weather often isn’t and the Irish are some of the kindest people in the world.
With the clocks going back an hour yesterday, it’s now more than evident that Autumn is on its way to Queenstown. The days are getting shorter, the evenings cooler and the leaves around the Wakatipu Basin are changing color.
One of my biggest motivations in learning to paraglide was to be able to combine hiking with flying. I’ve always loved walking up mountains, and the allure of walking to the top and flying back to the bottom was huge. Once you’ve reached the top of the mountain, getting back down is never nearly as much fun.
Backpacking Matt 
