East Cape

Getting off beaten track is easy to do on East Cape. Driving road that leads from Whakatane, in sunny Bay of Plenty, around easternmost tip of New Zealand to Gisborne is one trip not to miss. This lonely and rugged land is home to hardened farmers and fishing families who have worked this land and water throughout New Zealand’s history. I will never forget driving this road in 2002 over a three-day weekend and experiencing a more real New Zealand than I ever knew. It is crazy for me to say this because I was raised in Whakatane and never really discovered this treasure before. The people are amazing, scenery and landscape is incredible, and our experience there, on whole, was just perfect. It was real New Zealand.

Southland

Again, this can be a tricky one. Do not confuse Southland with South Island. Southland is southernmost part of mainland New Zealand. Boasting southernmost cinema in world and various other interesting claims to fame, Southland is perhaps best known throughout world for ‘Bluff Oysters’. But my main reason for loving Southland is people. ‘Southlanders’ are without a doubt friendliest and most welcoming of all New Zealanders. They also talk a little different to rest of us, but that is ok, we love them all same. The high country sheep farms of Southland are a perfect place to discover real New Zealand. Drive north from Invercargill to towns of Winton or Gore, ask a local farmer questions about farming or sheep, and do not be at all alarmed if you are invited for dinner or a ‘cuppa’. The real New Zealand is definitely in abundance here.

Taking real New Zealand home Remember these key points, and you will not only discover real New Zealand, you will also have trip of a lifetime. Yes, you can lose yourself in rugged and wild New Zealand countryside, and yes you can find ‘not so beaten tracks’ in guidebooks, but real New Zealand is more than that. You deserve to discover real New Zealand (especially after surviving that long flight), and it wont cost you anything. The real New Zealand is available through people, ‘Kiwis’; just talk to them and you will find real New Zealand. Chances are, you will take a lot of it home with you.