Queenstown, New Zealand: A Dream Destination or Future Home?

Exploring Queenstown, New Zealand | Travel Tips, Highlights, and Adrenaline Adventures

Join hosts Brittany and Josh on the We Should Move Here travels podcast as they share their incredible two-and-a-half-week journey through New Zealand, starting in the breathtaking Queenstown. In this episode, they discuss stunning landscapes, the beauty of the Remarkables mountain range, thrilling adventures like paragliding and bungee jumping, and the town’s vibrant food and wine scene. They also provide practical tips on accessing nature, public transportation, and living costs. Whether you’re a nature enthusiast, adrenaline junkie, or just love to travel, this podcast offers insightful and firsthand experiences perfect for anyone looking to explore Queenstown, New Zealand.

00:00 Welcome to the We Should Move Here Travels Podcast

00:41 Exploring the Beauty of Queenstown

05:16 Adventures and Activities in Queenstown

08:39 Traveling to New Zealand: The Journey

12:02 Wine Tours and Local Experiences

21:22 Public Transportation and Living in Queenstown

24:57 Culinary Delights in Queenstown

27:34 Dining at Public Italian Kitchen

28:04 Delicious Desserts and Indian Cuisine

28:58 Seafood Delights in New Zealand

30:33 Exploring Queenstown's Marina

31:54 Breakfast at The Boat Shed

36:48 Rating Queenstown's Food Scene

43:10 Cost of Living and Travel Tips

51:37 Work-Life Balance in Queenstown

53:23 Final Thoughts and Future Plans

@WSMHtravels

Transcript

brit 0:11

Hello and welcome to the We Should Move Here travels podcast. My name is Brittany.

josh 0:17

I'm Josh

brit 0:18

and we are your host. Today we are gonna be talking about Queenstown, New Zealand.

josh 0:25

Ooh.

brit 0:27

We just got back from this really long trip. It was about two and a half weeks where we went to different cities throughout New Zealand and we traveled with my mom.

josh 0:39

Yeah.

brit 0:39

And it was so much fun. we started our trip in Queenstown.

josh 0:43

I thought it was a perfect place to start. I think it worked really well for the trip and it, it was just beautiful. Stunning. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

brit 0:50

Yeah. Definitely a gorgeous place. It was pretty tourist heavy, which I can understand, because it was absolutely stunning. Like the mountains, the water, it was like crystal clear blue water. It was stunning. And then up against the mountains, it was just like so picturesque.

josh 1:10

Yeah.

brit 1:10

It was beautiful.

josh 1:12

Yeah. From the moment we took off from Auckland, flying down to Queenstown. It was so beautiful the whole way down. We got to see the mountains and then coming in for the landing, you were just kind of weaving in and out of the Yeah. Mountain ranges and then you just. Landing on this tiny airstrip there in Queenstown, and you're just from that moment on surrounded by mountains and hills and just the stunning beauty that it is down there in the south island of New Zealand.

brit 1:41

Yeah, that was the coolest airplane landing I think we've ever had,

josh 1:48

for sure.

brit 1:48

Going through the mountains like that was just insane. I was like, holy shit. There's mountains all around us. The plane is weaving in and out of these mountains. It was cool.

josh 1:59

I was gonna say that one, and I think, was it landing Osaka Airport in Japan? It was a floating Oh. A floating airstrip. Yeah. Or an airstrip, like just on its own, on the water. It was really creepy, crazy there. So

brit 2:20

I, I do remember something like that. Yeah.

josh 2:23

But yeah, so this one is definitely top two for sure. Probably the coolest one ever because the whole trip was in the middle of the day, so it was light out and it wasn't all that cloudy. So we got to see. A bunch of the mountain ranges on the way down.

brit 2:39

Yeah.

josh 2:39

Mm-hmm.

brit 2:40

And if you don't know, there are several different mountain ranges surrounding queenstown. Mm-hmm. And one of them is the remarkables. Mm-hmm. Which we kept talking about because they're just stunning. They're so beautiful and it's, they have these really sharp peaks mm-hmm. Which make them just so picturesque. I keep using that word, but it, it's the only thing that's coming to mind right now. It's just so beautiful.

josh 3:05

It is. And they're very jagged, like you said. Very sharp. Yeah. They're very jagged. So when it's, the mountains are kind of hanging through, it looks like a pair of teeth kind of biting through the clouds. So it is remarkable as the name says.

brit 3:18

Yeah. So we kind of jumped right into the beauty mm-hmm. Of Queenstown. And we're gonna be doing this new thing where we're ranking different criteria. So in terms of access to nature and beauty, what do you think you would rank Queenstown at?

josh 3:37

Oh, it's easy. It's a 10 outta 10. there, there's no question about if it's a 10 or not. We talk often, or at least I do. I talk often when we go to places and then report back on this podcast, you know, if we can see any nature past the city or if it's immediately available. Mm-hmm. Well, with Queenstown, you're in it. You might not be in the woods or in nature immediately, but. You are surrounded by these mountains. There's no question that you get to see beauty all around you wherever you turn. So it's a 10 for me.

brit 4:16

Yeah. Really all throughout the town it's absolutely beautiful because like you said, you can go anywhere within this town and there's mountains and water and just so much beauty.

josh 4:28

Yeah.

brit 4:28

I think for me it would definitely be a 10, outta 10 as well. Like no doubt.

josh 4:32

Yeah.

brit 4:33

It is one of the most beautiful places I think we've ever been,

josh 4:37

for sure. Yeah. I trying to think. Scotland just as beautiful. This is more dramatically beautiful. Yeah. Because of the mountains. Um,

brit 4:49

yeah. It's a different kind of beauty. Mm-hmm. I think what we felt in Scotland and the beauty there was also a part of our emotions.

josh 4:58

Mm-hmm.

brit 4:58

Tying us to Scotland.

josh 5:00

Yeah.

brit 5:00

Whereas this was. Like in your face. Stunning.

josh 5:04

Right, totally agree with that. That's a good way to put it.

brit 5:07

Yeah.

josh 5:07

Mm-hmm.

brit 5:08

And also my mom was with on this trip.

josh 5:11

Mm-hmm.

brit 5:11

So she got to see all of the mountains and all of the fun nature stuff.

josh 5:15

Yeah.

brit 5:16

And all throughout Queenstown there are so many adventures that people have. Like people are adrenaline junkies here.

josh 5:26

Mm-hmm.

brit 5:27

So everywhere you look, there were people paragliding, there were people rock climbing, hiking up these mountains. There were people bungee jumping, uh, zip lining all of these different really wild adventures that people have. Mm-hmm. But oh, it was amazing. Yeah. I don't think I could get myself to do a lot of those things.

josh 5:51

Mm-hmm.

brit 5:51

Uh, but my mom did bungee jump while we were in Queenstown.

josh 5:56

Yes, she did. Yeah.

brit 5:57

Yes. And that was amazing. She did an amazing job. She was so graceful. Mm-hmm. I mean, it was so cool to watch her do this and get in the mindset of it. I don't know how she got there Oh my gosh, she's so brave.

josh 6:13

Yeah, I also could not imagine myself bungee jumping. I wasn't even attempting to put myself in that mindset. Just not something I would do maybe in the future. But I was just like, no, that's not for me. You and me did Zipline while we were there in Queenstown, and that was enough for me. That was really cool, really beautiful. But it was really fun to see your mom bungee jump because leading up to this trip for the year that we were planning it, her number one thing was bungee jumping.

brit 6:48

Yeah,

josh 6:48

for sure. And she was studying, preparing for it, you know, made sure she was physically good to go. And. She did it and it was awesome. And it was really cool to see someone accomplish something on their bucket list like she did. So

brit 7:06

yeah, it was a feeling that was really indescribable watching my mom do that. Really powerful. Yeah. And I think it did get me into some other thoughts about like, if my mom can do this I can do things that scare me too. Mm-hmm. Like, it was so inspiring and I think, I think just, you know, watching her do this and she was scared. I saw it in her face, like she's a brave woman. Mm-hmm. She's one of the bravest people I know. But to watch her be scared and do it anyway, that was so inspiring.

josh 7:40

Yeah. Yeah. Totally agree. She is one of the bravest people I know too, so, yeah.

brit 7:45

It,

josh 7:46

it, yeah. Just again, so cool to see her check that off her bucket list and. I was really happy for her. We did the best to celebrate that moment through the rest of the trip.

brit 7:58

It was a running joke through the rest of the trip. Like every time we cheered or toasted to anything, it was to my mom jumping off a bridge

josh 8:07

to, to Vicki jumping off bridges. So I'm pretty sure in the last episode I said I was gonna try to do that as much as I could to make sure she remembered that she was able to accomplish that. So, yeah, I, I hope we did enough. And, uh, Vicki, I hope you enjoyed yourself.

brit 8:25

Oh gosh, that was so fun. I wish we could go back. I'm thinking about this and I'm just like, Ugh. That was so fun.

josh 8:33

It was, it was a great time. I, we gotta back up a little bit.'cause one thing that was also. A great time was our trip to New Zealand.

brit 8:43

Oh, yes.

josh 8:44

The day in general was very long. We had about a 37 hour travel day from the time we stepped into our small town airport in Appleton, Wisconsin, to stepping out of the airport in Queenstown, New Zealand, probably right around 37 hours.

brit 9:01

It was crazy.

josh 9:01

We had a big delay going from Chicago to San Francisco that kept us in the United Club Lounge for a couple hours. That, which worked out great.

brit 9:11

Mm-hmm.

josh 9:12

And then once we got to San Francisco, got on the plane for our 13 hour plane ride we had paid for Sky couches, two of them for our trip there. And I think that worked out pretty well.

brit 9:26

I think it was amazing. Mm-hmm. I would do that every single chance I got if we flew that airline every time. Mm-hmm. I mean, it was definitely worth it because I actually slept on the plane. Mm-hmm. With all of the travel we do, it is so shocking to me that I still have yet to find a way to sleep on a plane. It's the sitting up and bobbing my head. I don't know. We're gonna see if a eye mask that ties or somehow attaches to the back helps. Yeah. With our Ireland, Ireland with our Ireland trip coming up. we will see, but this was really helpful.

josh 10:09

Mm-hmm.

brit 10:10

I got to lay down and my mom got to lay down. And then you took a turn in where my mom was laying down and you guys switched spots. I just kind of curled up and took two seats. And the third person sat up. Yeah. Whether it was you or my mom most of the time it was you, but. Yeah. Sleeping on a plane. It is a game changer, really. Like we got there and we were able to explore, we were able to drink a glass of wine, our first glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand.

josh 10:45

Mm-hmm.

brit 10:45

That was an incredible feeling. Yeah. And then we stayed up until maybe like eight or nine.

josh 10:52

Mm-hmm.

brit 10:52

Had dinner and then went to bed.

josh 10:54

Yeah.

brit 10:55

And we were in the time zone.

josh 10:57

Yeah. After

brit 10:58

that,

josh 10:58

it was a very smooth transition. One of the smoothest transitions we had going from. Such a long travel day

brit 11:06

mm-hmm.

josh 11:06

To being right into it. Usually you and me, we get there and we have to take a little nap or rest, wake back up, be awake for the rest of the day to try to get ourselves back on track.

brit 11:18

Yeah.

josh 11:19

Go back asleep, wake up probably a little too late the next day, and then work our way in. But yeah, like you said, we were kinda just right into it, ready to go. And I think the sky couch definitely helped with that. You know, it, it was a luxury expense. You and me, we've never flown first class or business class or anything like that. So this was next level for us. You know, it was a couple of hundred dollars and you basically got a, a twins size bed. Yeah. If you, if you want to, if you have the whole row, which you get with a sky couch, and if you fold all three of them up, you get a twin sized bed that you can lay down in.

brit 11:56

Yeah. Maybe a little smaller than a twins size bed.

josh 11:58

Yeah.

brit 11:59

But. It was doable.

josh 12:00

Yeah.

brit 12:01

For two people.

josh 12:01

Mm-hmm.

brit 12:02

Yeah.

josh 12:02

But yeah, like you said, we got to go ahead, have some wine right away, have some food, and the next day we started out with a wine tour Right away

brit 12:10

we did. Mm-hmm. Oh, that was fun.

josh 12:13

Yeah,

brit 12:13

that was a great wine tour. We got to go to three, four different vineyards.

josh 12:18

Mm-hmm.

brit 12:18

And. Pinot Noir. Was the wine that was really good in that region. Yeah. So we tasted some really great pinot noir.

josh 12:30

Mm-hmm.

brit 12:31

And then we also got to go into a wine cave. Yep. That was so incredible. Mm-hmm. I loved it. My mom was so happy in there. Like I took some pictures of her just like candid pictures. Oh my gosh. She was so happy she was having the time of her life.

josh 12:47

Yeah. Yeah. It was a great time. A really good wine to where we purchased lunch in the middle, which was delicious. We, I'm trying to think. Oh. Our guide on the tour t he was funny driving us around, threw some jokes. It was a great time and a, and a good group of people too. We had some people from the US with us, from Ireland, from Australia. So a, a good variety group. And I think that's usually what makes a good tour is if you got a good guide and you have at least a decent group around you.

brit 13:29

Yes.

josh 13:30

Mm-hmm.

brit 13:31

Absolutely. And the group actually got together afterwards mm-hmm. At a brewery, which in hindsight. Wasn't the greatest idea because we had been drinking wine all day. Mm-hmm. And then we went to a brewery and drank beer. And at the end it was just too much for me. Um, I think too much for a lot of people and yeah, it was still really fun and we got to know people better and that was great. Yeah.

josh 14:01

Yeah. And we talked to the people from Ireland a little bit and they gave us some food recommendations.

brit 14:06

Yes.

josh 14:07

For our upcoming trip. The brewery that we stopped at afterwards, I believe was. Altitude.

brit 14:12

Yes.

josh 14:13

they had great beer and we met some locals there that were really friendly, some dogs. And we actually found a, they had a like a sticker wall of breweries that I think had visited there. They might have visited. And there was one from Appleton, Wisconsin on there. There

brit 14:31

were two. Yeah. We found, uh, Sierra Nevada, and then we found Hop Yard.

josh 14:38

Oh yeah. Yep.

brit 14:39

Which hop yard is in Appleton.

josh 14:41

Yeah.

brit 14:41

Crazy.

josh 14:42

I know. Small world. Yeah. So we had the wine tour and then we'd already talked about your mom bungee jumping and we did our zip lining there as well. Mm-hmm.

brit 14:54

Well it was a zip ride. Yeah. We didn't do full on zip lining here. Um, we did the zip ride.

josh 15:00

Yeah.

brit 15:01

Which was really fun. Mm-hmm. And equally as scary as zip lining in my opinion. Um, But it was great.

josh 15:12

Mm-hmm.

brit 15:12

And really beautiful. I mean, you're looking over the mountains in New Zealand and this crystal clear blue water mm-hmm. That's right below you. It's just gorgeous. You can't ask for anything else. the day after that, we went up the gondola

josh 15:29

mm-hmm.

brit 15:29

And we went to the overlook. Yep. And that was so cool. It was absolutely beautiful. I did take some photos with the professional camera that we just bought. And we may or may not be starting an Etsy shop selling these photos. If you're listening and you want a beautiful photo of New Zealand landscape, definitely check it out. but this place had like a cafe, it had a gift shop. It had a stunning overlook where you could look out and you're at one of the highest points, I think, in Queenstown. Mm-hmm. And it is just gorgeous. Yeah. If you're afraid of heights, I will say this Gondola ride was steep. It was freaking steep. Yeah. It

josh 16:17

was scary. Mm-hmm. It was, but it, it was very cool to ride up there and obviously very safe. And then once you get. to the overlook, like you said, there's lots to do. There's a cafe, there's a restaurant. I think you have to book ahead for those. Yeah, we weren't going to eat there, but we went up there. You get free pictures while you're up there, so they give you cool little like cards that you just scan a QR code and that takes a picture for you, sends you a text later.

brit 16:44

I will say, you gotta be ready for that.'cause the ones that we took, we are not gonna be adding to this because they were awful.

josh 16:50

Yeah. We were just not prepared. We stepped in line or we were like the first ones in line and the guy's like, here scan it, step on it. He's like 3, 2, 1. And

brit 17:00

none of us were even standing at the line yet. Like, nope. It was just awful.

josh 17:04

Nope. But it is cool that you get free pictures and they're at different angles and everything, but like you said, it is beautiful. It's starting to be up there. The lake is so blue. Mm-hmm. And. The mountains are so dramatic. It's really cool to see. Uh, it is a little pricey to ride up there on the gondola. And then they do have little, like, go-karts. You can ride around in, I, I don't know what it's called.

brit 17:31

It's the luge.

josh 17:33

Oh yeah, yeah. You can, you can ride these little carts in a luge short ride, but those. Costs some money as well. So if, if that's your thing, you can go ahead. I think ours was a little delayed'cause of wind'cause it was very windy day.

brit 17:47

Yeah. I, I think we decided not to do that. Mm-hmm. Based on the price, all of our interests in it. And uh, the wind I think definitely impacted that decision too.

josh 17:59

Yeah. The, I mean there, like you said, there are so many things you can do. You can go up there and you can do the parasailing or paragliding. Yeah. Whatever it is. I'm pretty sure they offer some bungee jumping from up there. Maybe

brit 18:13

they do. They had a platform up there. Nobody was jumping on that day because I think the wind was preventing that. It was really windy. Yeah. Like when we were going up in the gondola, it was swaying back and forth and I was like, oh boy, is this it?

josh 18:28

Mm-hmm.

brit 18:28

It wasn't, we're here, we're safe, we're alive.

josh 18:31

It was fine. I will say I'm a little bitter'cause this is the day that we were supposed to do the fly cruise fly. Yeah. That I had presented when we were booking this trip and oh, we, we didn't get to do it'cause it was too windy that day and you fly from Queenstown, uh, to the Milford sound to do a cruise there, but the prop plane that you fly from to and from the Milford sound just couldn't land because of how windy it was. So,

brit 19:01

yeah.

josh 19:02

And unfortunately they couldn't even just give us a plane ride at half price, which they offered us. It just was too windy. I'm a little upset about, but after. We talked about, you know, it's just the reason that we gotta go back someday.

brit 19:14

It is, yeah. And they did offer us that just the plane ride.

josh 19:19

Mm-hmm.

brit 19:19

Um, over the Milford sound, but then maybe like an hour later they called back. Or maybe even like, was it like 20 minutes?

josh 19:26

Yeah. It wasn't that long.

brit 19:28

Yeah. They called back and they were like, yeah, we just can't do it today.

josh 19:32

Mm-hmm.

brit 19:32

So I mean, better safe than sorry.

josh 19:34

Right. Exactly. Exactly what I was gonna say.

brit 19:36

Yeah. But I do think you're right. I think this is a reason that we get to go back. And I also think that when we talk about other cities in a couple episodes

josh 19:49

mm-hmm.

brit 19:50

We have more reasons to go back.

josh 19:52

Right.

brit 19:52

So

josh 19:53

But with that free day then for not doing the fly cruise fly, we got to walk around a bit more in Queenstown. Mm-hmm. Which was really cool. Get to see some of it. Like you said, to start out, it is pretty tourist driven and the locals talked about the few locals that we were able to talk to said the number of people that are there that are locals versus the number of tourists that are there basically every day throughout the year is just crazy. There's mm-hmm. Like three to one tourists. Even more than that.

brit 20:27

I thought they said 10 to one.

josh 20:29

Probably. It's, it's a lot. They said it's, it's overwhelming at times because the whole Queenstown downtown area is just full of hotels, motels, B and Bs, you know, seasonal rentals, stuff like that for tourist and seasonal workers to rent out through the heavy tourist season.

brit 20:52

Yeah. Which I can see why.

josh 20:55

Mm-hmm.

brit 20:55

I really can. I can see why it's so tourist heavy. Because who doesn't want to go to Queenstown?

josh 21:01

Right.

brit 21:01

It is so beautiful.

josh 21:03

Mm-hmm.

brit 21:04

And there's all of those people.

josh 21:07

Mm-hmm.

brit 21:07

So like, when we were there, it was really interesting because I did get the feeling. I got the feeling there. Because of the beauty. However, I don't see us in the center of Queenstown. I see us maybe in a town that is like on the outskirts of Queenstown. we weren't able to use public transportation to get around the other side of the lake where most locals are. Yeah. And they probably don't want us over there anyways. Right. Which is totally fine and understandable. But usually because of what our podcast is about, usually we try to check out some local spots and we weren't able to do that as much. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, as far as public transportation goes, I think I would rate it pretty low.

josh 21:58

Yeah.

brit 21:59

Maybe like a three or four outta 10. Just because, I mean, it was really walkable in the center of Queenstown. However, getting anywhere outside of that, it was really difficult. Like you needed a car.

josh 22:13

Yeah.

brit 22:13

So I could see us living on the outside Of Queenstown. And I think we would be really happy. And that's where I got the feeling. Once I thought about that, that's when I started getting the feeling. Mm-hmm.

josh 22:29

Yeah. One of, one of the days you and me took a really long hike along, uh, the lake there. Mm-hmm. And with the mountains in the background, and we were talking and discussing it, and it was beautiful. It was, it was so calm. It was such a nice walk, beautiful day, beautiful weather.

brit 22:48

Yeah.

josh 22:49

And you were like, oh, I get that. I get the feeling here. And it, I just couldn't get my mind that, you know, downtown Queenstown, just the number of people there. But No, I totally agree. I think if we found a place around there, like Arthur's Point or an Arrow Town, maybe there might be something there. And, you know, if we go back in the future, we, I would probably advocate for us to stay in one of those places and have a, oh, me too. Have a car so we can drive ourselves around, because we always know when we do trips, when we don't have a vehicle, take ourselves places or public transportation. Isn't readily available enough or easy enough to do, to get us to lots of places.

brit 23:31

Mm-hmm.

josh 23:31

We, we just don't feel as connected to a place. You might feel a little more than I do, but Well,

brit 23:37

you're the driver.

josh 23:38

Yeah. I need, I need a little bit more than that,

brit 23:41

so. Yeah. No, that makes sense. That makes sense. I think when, when I think of public transportation being easy, I think of Ghent, Belgium.

josh 23:51

Oh yeah. That,

brit 23:52

that was the easiest public transportation. Mm-hmm. We've ever done

josh 23:56

that. That was 10 out 10. If there's a, a standard, that's the standard.'cause we could walk, we could get on and off the trams, the trains. It, we never needed an Uber, but if we needed one, there were taxis all over the place. Yeah. Bikes, people biked everywhere. That was. That was it. This place, like you said, we didn't really get an opportunity to use it, but it didn't seem readily available anyways. It was very walkable, very lots of undulation, lot of hills obviously. Yeah. Because of the mountains.

brit 24:27

We get that incline.

josh 24:27

Yeah we, we were definitely on stair master mode when we were walking around Yeah. We, the two places we booked were up the steepest hill, I think.

brit 24:39

Yeah.

josh 24:40

For Queenstown and right on edge of Queenstown. They were good places but it was just a, a big hill to walk up and down every single day.

brit 24:49

Yeah. I mean, it was fun though. And we walked up and down it multiple times a day. Yeah.

josh 24:54

Oh yeah.

brit 24:55

Yeah. We were going in and outta town, so. I think as far as food goes

josh 25:00

mm-hmm.

brit 25:00

I'm surprised it took us so long to talk about food.

josh 25:04

Yeah, I know. I'm, we you started us out and then I took us away from it, man. Here we are again.

brit 25:11

So some of the highlights I would like to give Is public Italian kitchen. Their salmon dish was absolutely incredible.

josh 25:20

Mm-hmm.

brit 25:20

it was in this tomato-based sauce And it was so creamy. And the acidity from the tomatoes and the cream from the sauce just were, it was so balanced. I really loved this dish. Mm-hmm. And then the skin on the salmon was really crispy.

josh 25:41

Yes.

brit 25:43

It was perfect.

josh 25:44

It

brit 25:44

was. That was my perfect dish.

josh 25:45

It was done very well.

brit 25:47

Yeah.

josh 25:47

And I wanna mention, because we had your mom on this trip, we were able to do our share Zs. Three different ways on this trip, so mm-hmm. Your mom got into it very early on, was all for it. So we each ordered a different dish and then we ate a third and, you know, passed around and then we tried to decide who had the best dish. Yeah. So it worked out for us being as big as foodies as we are, that we got to try more. And your mom said she really enjoyed it as well, so,

brit 26:18

yeah. Yeah. I think at public Italian kitchen, we were not doing that yet. This was our very first day. Mm-hmm. Like when we landed

josh 26:27

Yeah.

brit 26:27

And got to explore. So we were not there yet.

josh 26:30

Mm-hmm.

brit 26:30

but I did win best, best dish at public Italian kitchen, just so y'all know.

josh 26:36

Yep. You definitely did. I had some pasta with, uh, shrimp or prawns and some sauce. That was good. And then I'm not sure what your mom had,

brit 26:47

she had a pasta as well.

josh 26:49

Oh.

brit 26:49

what was it? No, she had the shrimp pasta. Oh, she had the shrimp and impulse. You had the lamb pasta.

josh 26:54

Oh, that's right. I had like the, the minster ground lamb, man.

brit 26:57

Yeah. I'm not a huge fan of lamb.

josh 26:59

Mm-hmm.

brit 26:59

And it's just a flavor thing for me. Yeah. It's really unfortunate because. People who love lamb are really, dedicated to loving lamb. It's like a whole thing. And I don't get to experience that'cause my taste buds just aren't there. maybe someday my palate will change, but

josh 27:17

just like vegetables, you just get tried every once in a while and eventually you'll find a way You like it.

brit 27:22

Yeah. But every time I try it I'm like,

josh 27:24

Ugh, that's not it. Who knows? Maybe in Ireland, I assume they got a lot of lamb dishes. Maybe you'll find something there.

brit 27:31

Yeah, I don't

josh 27:33

know. Skeptical. But yes, public Italian kitchen was a good place and it was a beautiful spot to sit right. It was right on the edge of the water. Right near the Queenstown Gardens, so. Mm-hmm. Uh, it was just a really good spot to sit.

brit 27:50

Yeah. Absolutely stunning. Mm-hmm. That's where I wanted to be our very first night because I picked this place out and I was like, Ugh, we have to go here. So I was like, we're doing this tonight. As soon as we get there I was ready for it. And then we had a dessert, which was a, was it a lemon? It was a lemon pound cake.

josh 28:10

Yep.

brit 28:10

With like a lemon glaze around it.

josh 28:14

Yeah, I believe so. Some sort of lemon sauce. It was very light, very airy.

brit 28:18

So good.

josh 28:19

Yeah, very good.

brit 28:20

That dessert was great. We also went to a place called Taj, which was Indian cuisine, and we had like a salmon dish, a vegetable dish, And a chicken Teka Maza. So all of these were absolutely delicious. Yeah. I would highly recommend this Indian restaurant. Yeah. We were recommended this place by our tour guide on the wine tour.

josh 28:49

Yep.

brit 28:49

And we decided to go here'cause we were all like craving Indian food.

josh 28:54

Mm-hmm.

brit 28:55

And it was really good. the salmon was my favorite. You're gonna notice a real theme here. The salmon in New Zealand was so delicious.

josh 29:08

Mm-hmm.

brit 29:09

It was so fresh. It was cooked perfectly everywhere. Yeah. Like it was so good.

josh 29:15

And I mean, there's no wonder why it's an island. just tons of great seafood. So you gotta stick around or come back for some of our other episodes'cause we had fresh seafood and fish throughout the trip and we got some great recommendations of a bunch of places that we had salmon at.

brit 29:32

Yeah.

josh 29:33

Yeah. And this was like you said, this was a good place. We actually had this after Vicki went bungee jumping. So it, it was a good meal to have after'cause she was so nervous and didn't want to have a large meal. Beforehand of bungee jumping. I

brit 29:50

don't think she ate anything.

josh 29:51

I think she had like part of a protein bar just to hold her over. But I mean, you don't wanna be tied up by your legs and then dive headfirst and then

brit 30:00

vomit everywhere.

josh 30:01

Yeah. Become like a fire hose or something. Ew. So she was pretty hungry afterwards. And, and so were we, so, this was a good post zip line and post bungee jumping meal.

brit 30:14

Yeah,

josh 30:15

for sure.

brit 30:15

It was, it was good portion sizes too.

josh 30:19

Mm-hmm.

brit 30:19

Like, I think we took some leftovers.

josh 30:21

We did. It was really good portion sizes for the three of us and we each ordered one. I had some rice and it had some non bread. Mm-hmm. We had some leftovers and it was very good.

brit 30:32

Yeah.

josh 30:33

Another place that we went that was right next to altitude. was the marina, which had several small pods of restaurants and wine bars. Bars, coffee places, all that were amazing.

brit 30:52

So the best coffee place that we had while in Queenstown was there. It was Nokia. So amazing. It was delicious. I like a strong coffee. This was strong. I didn't have to add an extra shot, which in New Zealand. It seems like the coffee game is really milk heavy. And, uh, well in their lattes really milk heavy and maybe less espresso. But here it was strong and it wasn't very milk heavy, which I appreciated. And I liken a good latte. So, really great place would definitely recommend.

josh 31:32

Well, and it's right on the marina again. Mm-hmm. So you're looking out over the water mountains in the background, some boats floating around you. And then there are other places we stopped at Italian Way, which is a little Italian place on the marina. And we had a glass of wine and I think some bread before. We went to dinner that night. Mm-hmm. Which we had at the boat shed, which was another place that was recommended by our taxi driver on the way in our wine tour guide, several people were like, if you get to go to the boat, shed go to the boat shed. And I didn't think it disappointed. I thought it was delicious. it is very breakfast forward So a lot of breakfast dishes. There are some others, but mostly breakfast and they all hit, I thought.

brit 32:20

They really did. My mom got a mussel pasta. That was delicious. That was so good. Um, that was the only non breakfast thing that I think we got. Yeah. And then I got a French toast, which was literally dessert. It was so delicious. and sweet and just, it was dessert, and then you got like a breakfast scramble.

josh 32:45

Yeah, like a skillet, scramble sort of thing with eggs and onions, corn, all that.

brit 32:51

That was really good too. Potato.

josh 32:53

It was delicious.

brit 32:53

Yeah. Yeah. This place is really popular, so you do have to make reservations ahead of time. Yeah. Thankfully we were able to find a spot mm-hmm. And get in. Yeah. So this was also the day that we were supposed to go to the Milford sound.

josh 33:07

Mm-hmm.

brit 33:08

And maybe it did work out because we got to go here. They had an open spot and we were able to go here. So maybe it all worked out. And we're just gonna go back for the Milford sound

josh 33:19

if we haven't mentioned it before. But we call these moments burnt toast moments. Mm-hmm. So, uh, if it was meant to happen or not happen, it's a burnt toast moment.

brit 33:30

Yeah. If you don't know the burnt toast theory, look it up.

josh 33:34

They also did have, uh, at boat shed some really good coffees or like fun coffees. You might not have liked them because they were kind of sweeter and had some different flavors. But me, me and your mom. Ordered some, and I think one was like a gingerbread and one was a, oh, what's the name of that cookie? I'm looking at the picture right now. The Biscoff. The Biscoff Cookie one.

brit 34:00

Yep.

josh 34:01

Delicious.

brit 34:02

They were really sweet. So if you like a sweet one, go for it.

josh 34:06

Mm-hmm.

brit 34:07

I think I liked my mom's. It was a, I think it was a amisu.

josh 34:11

It was, and she got a little, oh, what's the alcohol cream?

brit 34:15

Angelico,

josh 34:16

I think it was like some French Angelico or some sort of boozy cream in it. So hers was a alcohol coffee combo. Mine was just coffee though, so

brit 34:26

Yeah. And I got a glass of wine because,

josh 34:28

because Why not?

brit 34:29

Yeah. We're in New Zealand.

josh 34:31

Yeah. Which I don't know if it was just me, but just to bring it up again, I think the, I think it's Ortego or Otago wine region. The one that's down there.

brit 34:42

Yeah.

josh 34:43

Might be underrated. I don't know. I'm not as big of a wine fan as there is out there, but it's, it should be well known. If you're going to New Zealand for wine, you definitely gotta make your way further south than just the Marlboro Sauvignon Blanc region, which is great. Which we'll get to in the next episode That's a great region. Definitely gotta make your, your way south as well to this region.

brit 35:11

I agree. I do think it is underrated.

josh 35:13

Mm-hmm.

brit 35:14

I, I love wine. I love a good glass of wine, And the pinot there was so delicious. They also had a lot of pinot gris

josh 35:25

Mm.

brit 35:26

Which is good. It's not my favorite kind of wine, so I really appreciated the pinot noir

josh 35:32

mm-hmm.

brit 35:33

Down in that region.

josh 35:34

Yeah.

brit 35:34

So delicious.

josh 35:35

we almost forgot, or I almost forgot, we had, uh, minced pie right away.

brit 35:41

Oh my gosh. We did. Yes. So mince pies are a thing in New Zealand and we A

josh 35:47

big thing apparently.

brit 35:48

Yeah. We were recommended to try it by our sister-in-law and we had our first mince pie in the airport.

josh 35:58

Yeah. In the Auckland Airport. So I guess it's not Queenstown, but we were on our way, so

brit 36:03

yeah. Oh my gosh. It was so good.

josh 36:05

It was very good. We got a video, maybe we'll have it playing in this section, but it was warm, it was comforting. It was actually a great thing to have kind of mid-morning after the long flight while we were sitting there waiting.

brit 36:18

Yeah,

josh 36:19

it was nice. And you know, airport time doesn't exist, so I went ahead, had that, had a beer. It was like nine, 10:00 AM all good.

brit 36:27

Doesn't matter.

josh 36:28

Doesn't matter. You're

brit 36:28

in an airport.

josh 36:29

I, no one knows the time I did.'cause I looked, I was like, is it too early? No one gave me a look. That I remember.

brit 36:36

Yeah. Doesn't matter when you're in an airport. Whoa. Doesn't matter when you're in an airport,

josh 36:41

those run together pretty, pretty quick. I was like, did I hear that?

brit 36:45

Yeah. I was like, did I say that right? No, I did. I think so as far as food In Queenstown, what would you give a rating out of 10?

josh 36:56

We're not bringing up all the food we had there, but even still, there were not a lot of really special food moments or food moments where I was like. This is the greatest thing I've ever had. Not that every place has to have that. Not every place is gonna have that. Otherwise, every place would be special food. Um, and we don't go to all Michelin star places. We rarely do that sort of thing, but I don't know, I think I would give it average, probably like a six.

brit 37:28

Yeah, that's fair.

josh 37:29

It was good enough. It wasn't, I didn't hate it, but I wasn't over the moon for it.

brit 37:34

Yeah.

josh 37:35

Consistently the best thing was fish was the salmon, which was amazing. Loved it. But everything else was just kinda, Mm-hmm. Besides a specialty place like Boat Shed, which was great. And the fun spots on the marina, which were. Good for the coffee, good for the wine, and good for the views. But the food was, eh.

brit 37:56

Yeah. I don't think you come to Queenstown for the food. No. Right. You, you go for the views and the nature and maybe some of the adrenaline rushes of all of the activities. Right. You, you go for those things. Yeah. You don't really go for the food. And it is based around tourism, right? Mm-hmm. So not to say that it's, it doesn't have great food. But when I think of great food, I think of Tokyo. When we went to Japan. Yep. All throughout Japan. Really? Yep. Some of the best sushi fish I've ever had. And I think of Italy and the pasta and.

josh 38:33

so

brit 38:33

delicious.

josh 38:33

You just name Italy, you don't name a spot in Italy. You just name Italy. Any place in Italy, great food.

brit 38:39

Yeah, you'll be fine. Whatever you order, wherever you order it.

josh 38:43

Right?

brit 38:43

Actually that's a lie. Don't go to tourist driven spots there, but,

josh 38:47

right.

brit 38:47

Anyways

josh 38:48

no, I know what you're saying, but what, what would you rate Queenstown?

brit 38:52

I think I would give it like a 6.5. I'll give it a little higher, a little more grace, just because I, I don't know. I really did love the fresh salmon. And the fish dishes mm-hmm. I thought were really delicious. But like you, I think that, it wasn't anything really special.

josh 39:12

Yeah.

brit 39:13

Not like Japan, not like Italy, which. Not, like you said, not every place is gonna be that.

josh 39:19

Right. But it did have 10 out 10 for beauty. It's beautiful. I don't think I rated it, but, for walkability in transit, I'd probably give it like a five, six. Very walkable, but not heavy on that. What would you rate it for? Coffee and we kind of breeze past coffee.

brit 39:36

Oh, that's a, that's an interesting one. I think I had some really good cups.

josh 39:42

Mm-hmm.

brit 39:42

But overall, like consistency was not there.

josh 39:46

Yeah.

brit 39:47

And it, a lot of those lattes that I got were very milky all throughout New Zealand really. So this might be a repetitive thing, but it was, it was just very milk forward.

josh 39:58

Yeah.

brit 39:58

Which I think a lot of places do that.

josh 40:01

Mm-hmm.

brit 40:01

So I might just start ordering extra shots and, and I'll be fine. I can deal with the jitters.

josh 40:06

Right.

brit 40:07

But, um, I think I would rate it maybe a five. Maybe even, maybe a four.

josh 40:13

Yeah.

brit 40:14

Yeah. We'll do a four.

josh 40:16

Yeah.

brit 40:16

Just'cause it's not, it's not a huge coffee spot and it's not known for coffee. It's not

josh 40:21

Yeah.

brit 40:22

Really great coffee.

josh 40:23

Mm-hmm.

brit 40:24

Um, the two places we went, Nokia and Life's a Grind, had the two best lattes mm-hmm. That we got in Queenstown.

josh 40:33

Yeah. Yeah, I think I would agree. I'm not as into the coffee game as you are, but not to sound like a broken record With Italy, we went to every cafe. I ordered a cappuccino or a latte, and it was just consistent. It was good. Just about every single time this, like you said, it was like, oh, this one's good, eh, not so good. So yeah. Yeah, I, I think a four. That's a good spot. You know, if we're starting these rankings consistently, it gives room for growth other places, you know?

brit 41:02

It does,

josh 41:02

yeah.

brit 41:03

With Italy though, I would give it a 10.

josh 41:05

Yeah. Oh yeah, of course.

brit 41:07

It is so consistent throughout Italy and so delicious. Ugh. I love a good Italian espresso.

josh 41:14

This could become a Italy praise episode over a.

brit 41:22

Oh, it could be. Anyways.

josh 41:24

and of course if wine was its own category or a big factor in the food, that would definitely change that as well. But I mean, the wine was delicious. We consistently were trying to, and we did order local wines from the region, and that was true throughout the whole trip, as you'll hear in the next couple episodes.

brit 41:47

Yeah. If wine was a category, I would give it a ton outta a 10.

josh 41:50

Yeah.

brit 41:51

It was so delicious. Mm-hmm. And consistently delicious throughout New Zealand.

josh 41:55

Yeah.

brit 41:56

Yeah.

josh 41:57

There, there were a couple that we had on the wine tour places that were very small that had such a limited. Number production. And you couldn't buy it by the bottle. You had to buy a case just because it was such high quality, such a limited number production. And these very small vineyards and wineries had to make their money. And we're like, oh

brit 42:22

yeah.

josh 42:22

You know, I can't justify spending 700,$800 on this one bottle of wine. I know it's delicious, but that's not in my budget.

brit 42:31

No, there was, there was one wine on that wine tour. It was a Pinot Noir and it was, was it the Irish Brothers or something like that? The,

josh 42:41

I think it was Wild Irishman. And it was, I know it was light the way.

brit 42:45

Ugh. It was so delicious. Mm-hmm. But you had to be like a member and you couldn't just buy the one bottle and, uh, yeah. It just didn't make sense for us.

josh 42:56

Right.

brit 42:56

But, oh my gosh. Mm-hmm. If you get a chance to try that one, try it. Yeah. It's so good.

josh 43:01

For sure. Called Light the Way I know that. But yeah, it, and that frustrates me. I'm like, come on, I know I gotta be part of this wine club, or

brit 43:09

order a case,

josh 43:10

which kinda leads into the pricing of the area. When we traveled, it was a very good exchange rate. We got a lot of bang for our buck. The dollar went a long ways. Mm-hmm. In spending, however, in Queenstown, because it's so tourist heavy and just a high number of people there, you didn't really feel that everything was priced pretty high, where it kind of leveled out to us prices, it felt like.

brit 43:42

Yeah. Yeah. I would agree. I think everything, even though the US dollar did go a long way throughout New Zealand mm-hmm. In Queenstown specifically, it was so expensive.

josh 43:54

Yeah.

brit 43:54

That it did feel like we were maybe spending. like we would be spending in the US

josh 44:02

Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty washed. You know, we would have a appetizer that was 15 New Zealand dollar, which probably equated to nine US dollar.

brit 44:13

Mm-hmm.

josh 44:13

And a glass of wine, like a good local one probably was 20 New Zealand dollars, so right around 10 to 12 US dollar. So very comparable prices to at least what we see here in Wisconsin. Obviously it's different throughout the United States as well, but yeah, the, the food and everything, transportation, all of that was expensive for what I thought with the conversion rate. That translates as well to their cost of living. We looked it up because you were like, oh, you know, this could be, I feel I have the feeling here and we looked it up and it very comparable. Like a single bedroom rental in or near Queenstown is about 1400 US dollars a month. Yeah. It seems, and everything else as far as groceries and utilities are all about the same as United States. The only thing that is definitely more is gas or petrol or what, diesel, whatever they call it. Or whatever you need for your vehicle. Yeah. But a lot of people are using electric vehicles there.'cause that sun is out all the time.

brit 45:23

It is.

josh 45:24

Mm-hmm.

brit 45:25

Well, and we were also there during their summer. Right. So it's, it's much warmer than it would be say in a couple months. We got the benefit of going during their summer and our winter.

josh 45:39

Yeah.

brit 45:40

So we left the cold and went into the warm, but that also means that we left the warm to go back into the cold when we came home. And that was really sad.

josh 45:50

Yeah. Not happy about it, but I like the cold. I'm, I'm getting back to it. I, I like the winter vibes, so,

brit 45:57

yeah.

josh 45:58

But yeah. So as like pricing and affordability as far as a trip goes, it was wash, I'd give it like a five, you know, I didn't, I didn't see like a huge benefit of it, you know, similar to like a Thailand where the dollar goes a very long ways where this, it, it felt like I was taking a vacation on the East coast like we just did. Yeah.

brit 46:20

Yeah. I would also give it, you know, a lower score. I think maybe like a four or five. Mm-hmm. Because I'm considering like, if we were to live there, the cost of living would be so high compared to anywhere else in New Zealand.

josh 46:34

Right. Yeah.

brit 46:35

So it wouldn't make sense for us to live there as far as cost of living goes.

josh 46:40

But again, that, those mountains though, everyone did seem really happy there though. Yeah. Like the locals that we ran into, which again, there weren't a ton'cause there were a lot of tourists. So all the tours were having fun, including us. But we. Met a lot of locals or quite a few locals that were working and there were many of them that were on a holiday work visa. So younger adults, 35 to like 18, that, come for like a year or two on this holiday work visa and you and me were talking like, dang, we're, we're getting close to the edge of that. Like, we should have done that or we should do that.

brit 47:24

I'm gonna be 35 in three years, so we have three years to decide. No, we have a year to decide if this is something that we wanna do. Okay. Which would be amazing. Mm-hmm. If we could choose anywhere in the world, I don't know that New Zealand would be where I would wanna go for that. Right. But it is so easy to go there for that. Right. So maybe

josh 47:47

Well, and they,

brit 47:47

I don't know.

josh 47:47

And they do have other visa options.

brit 47:51

Mm-hmm. You

josh 47:51

know, they're actively hiring, you know, important work positions like healthcare and finance and stuff like that, that are needed in every society today. And then they got investor visa, stuff like that. So there are many ways you can get there. And we talked about this a little bit. The only thing that we would get stuck on is how far away it is and the initial cost of moving there. Being there, because that would. Include the flights and the cost of getting all our stuff, you know, the cats and it just that initial cost and the, the emotional tax of it.

brit 48:31

I would wanna have the cats on my lap the entire flight. Yeah. But they would be crying.

josh 48:37

They would,

brit 48:37

oh, we would need to drug them.

josh 48:39

They would be drugged.

brit 48:40

They would be drugged. Poor babies.

josh 48:43

Yeah. I, new Zealand's great. Queenstown is great. It seems like it's easy enough to move there. I think, relocation ease, we'd have to dig into it more, but it's pretty hard at this point. It'd probably be like a six,

brit 48:58

I think I'd give it, yeah, I'd give it probably like a six as well, because it seems like. For us

josh 49:06

mm-hmm.

brit 49:07

With it being so far away.

josh 49:09

Yeah.

brit 49:09

It might be more emotionally difficult

josh 49:13

mm-hmm.

brit 49:13

For both of us to move literally across the world.

josh 49:17

Yeah.

brit 49:18

Rather than it being, like a six to eight hour flight. It is a really long travel day.

josh 49:26

Yeah.

brit 49:26

It took us 37 hours to get to Queenstown from where we are.

josh 49:30

Yeah.

brit 49:31

Which is so wild. I don't think it always has to be that depending on flights. Right. But there's no direct flight from where we are.

josh 49:38

No.

brit 49:38

So for friends and family to come visit, for us to come back home, it would just be a freaking nightmare.

josh 49:44

It would be if you're a person that's on the West Coast or closer to the west coast of the United States.

brit 49:50

Mm-hmm.

josh 49:51

Much easier. Especially if you're in California. If you get to San Francisco or LAX, you're. Just the 13 hour plane ride. I say just, it's still a long plane ride, but that's all you need. You jump on your plane and you go, and then you're in Auckland.

brit 50:06

Mm-hmm.

josh 50:07

Yeah.

brit 50:08

Yeah. But for us

josh 50:09

mm-hmm.

brit 50:09

Where we're located, it was,

josh 50:11

yeah.

brit 50:12

Much, much longer.

josh 50:13

Yeah. And I was gonna say too, for young adults or kids that are in their late teens, early twenties, I wish I would've been more aware of these opportunities'cause I probably would've tried to do it.

brit 50:27

Oh, me too.

josh 50:27

You know, even if it's just for a couple months or a year. Push it to a year.'cause we met a lot of kids that were doing that. Yeah. From mostly kind of like the Asia region and Australia, because it's right there a lot closer for them. But, you know, I think it's a great opportunity to be able to do that, and it'll, it'll be interesting to see. I'll look for that more that, uh, holiday work, visa, see where it pops up because. Then that kind of seems like a place that's more open.

brit 50:53

Yeah. I definitely wish I did that as well. I feel like the kids that are choosing to do this mm-hmm. Are doing it at such a formative age mm-hmm. Where it's so important to see and learn other cultures and be in environments that are unfamiliar.

josh 51:13

Right.

brit 51:14

Like, it's so important during that age to do that between 20 and 30, I think.

josh 51:20

Yeah.

brit 51:20

I think that's what your twenties are all about, right? Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so I, I wish I did that for sure.

josh 51:26

Me too.

brit 51:27

But who knows where this is gonna take us,

josh 51:30

right?

brit 51:30

Right. So

josh 51:31

I was like, you and me we're, we're trying to get those years back by doing this.

brit 51:35

I guess so. Yeah. Yep.

josh 51:36

Oh man. But yeah, I mean, and like I mentioned the place. It's got a lot of action packed activities, a lot of hiking, mountain biking, the paraline parasailing. They got the speedboats out there. They got lots of boating opportunities, so much to do. And the place seemed to, to start late. Things opened up later mm-hmm. And closed earlier. And so as far as like a, like a pace of life, uh, work life balance sort of thing, it seemed really nice. And the people that we talked to said it was great. Like they had lots of time to do stuff. I'd have to look more into it, but I'd probably give that like an eight.

brit 52:15

Yeah. It did seem really nice for the workers to be able to open later and get done earlier. Mm-hmm. Like, it seemed like maybe a six hour workday. Mm-hmm. Which. How incredible.

josh 52:28

Right.

brit 52:28

And I don't know if people are working every single day there or taking breaks to do the fun things, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, but here in America it's like a hustle and bustle kind of grind,

josh 52:41

Right.

brit 52:42

Uh, whereas there it did feel a bit slower.

josh 52:45

Yeah.

brit 52:45

A little, a bit slower paced and people were willing to stop and smell the flowers. Mm-hmm. Especially my mom.

josh 52:55

She was, she was testing out that nose and every flower there was.

brit 53:00

Yeah. She was

josh 53:02

a good place to, like, Queenstown Gardens was a really beautiful place to walk around as well, that they had.

brit 53:07

Stunning.

josh 53:07

Yeah.

brit 53:08

But I would say that with the pace of life and what it seemed to be a really good work-life balance, I would also give it maybe like a seven, eight. Yeah.

josh 53:20

Yeah.

brit 53:20

Yeah. Any other recommendations?

josh 53:23

Yeah, you know what? I think, like we talked about, I think we gotta go back. We had planned this for a vacation with your mom and it was a great place to start out this trip on. You know, I'm really excited to talk about the next places that we visited because I think it only got really better from Queenstown, which is surprising to say. I don't think either of us might've expected that. But the trip definitely got more exciting as, uh, we went on. So, yeah. What about you? Anything else to say?

brit 53:51

No, I will echo that. I think that it was an amazing first stop. And it really got us prepared for the rest of New Zealand, I do think that if we go back, you had mentioned a couple of times renting a van mm-hmm. And kind of seeing New Zealand that way. Mm-hmm. And I think that would be so fun. that's something that we should do.

josh 54:11

Yeah. Yeah. There, there, there were a lot of people that had those camper vans or uh, RV rentals that. I just parked in the parking lot, slept there, and then did their adventures through the day there. And I think that'd really be really cool for us to do.

brit 54:26

Yeah, if that's something that you guys would wanna see us do, definitely let us know. Or if that's something that you've done, let us know how it went.

josh 54:34

Yeah, that'd be really cool. And we are getting more and more recommendations from people who live places or who have gone places, which is really fun and exciting to see.'cause then we're incorporating those into our future trips and our plans. So yeah, please keep that up.

brit 54:52

Yeah, for sure. Next episode we will be talking about Blenheim. We were saying Blenheim, uh, but we were corrected in New Zealand by a New Zealander that it is pronounced Blenheim.

josh 55:04

Thank you for that correction. Yes. We always wanna be as correct as possible, so if anyone ever hears anything we say incorrectly, let us know in the comments.

brit 55:13

Yes, please give us some feedback.

josh 55:16

You can listen to our episodes on Spotify, apple podcasts and YouTube. And don't forget to like and subscribe our social media accounts on TikTok, YouTube, and At wsm h travels.

brit 55:30

You can also look at all of the pictures and recommendations that we have for each city@wsmhtravels.com Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.