NZ Trip Planning

My friend is going to visit me in NZ next March/April, so I need to save up for that. I wanted to share a few of my favorite places and start an itinerary for us.

We are going to go to Rarotonga and then on a little road trip around NZ. I'm stoked. Some itinerary ideas, listed in order of my priority:

• fly down to Queenstown for some Southern Alps fun, maybe try a jetboat, do a cruise across the lake, do the luge/gondola, and do day trips to Wanaka and Doubtful Sound, as well as take in the good eats and scenery around town. 
• Drive up to Northland for a few days around the Paihia/Bay of Islands area, do a little whale/dolphin watching, and maybe go to Waipoua Forest at night to hunt for kiwis. 
• If we have time: a day trip out to Rangitoto for some volcano fun, Tiritiri Matangi Island or the Otago Peninsula because he loves wildlife/biology, and a night in Rotorua to see the geysers and geothermal stuffs. Oh. and maybe Hobbiton? I will have to feel him out for that one.

Day 1: He arrives. He will be exhausted. We will not do anything major this day.
Day 2: Chill out day. Get food and prep for our trip, see the sights around Auckland City: Albert Park, Queen St, Karangahape Rd, AKL Museum, Sky Tower, the waterfront, Mt Eden summit sunset. Show him my office and introduce him to my friends.
Day 3: Fly to Queenstown. Do things around town: luge, explore, arcades, etc.
Day 4: Doubtful Sound. Full day.
Day 5: Jet boat adventure? Lake cruise? 
Day 6: Fly back to Auckland. Chill out day. Laundry. Prep for Northland trip.
Day 7: Short day hike on Rangitoto/Tiritiri or out to the Waitakere beaches: Muriwai, Piha, etc. Prep for Northland trip. Party with my friends in the evening.
Day 8: Drive to Northland. Stop and see the kauri trees and other little nature stops.
Day 9: Cruise around Bay of Islands/whale watch/dolphins.
Day 10: Drive back to Auckland. Chill out day. Prep for Raro.  
Days 11 - 16: Rarotonga trip, including Aitutaki. Snorkeling, diving, swimming, island adventuring. Stay on the south/east side of the island. Day trip to Aitutaki.
Day 17: Chill out day in Auckland. Recover from Raro. Prep for trip to Rotorua.
Day 18: Drive down to Rotorua, stop and do Hobbiton or Matamata along the way. 
Day 19: Tour a geothermal field such as Wai O Tapu or Te Puia. Hang out in the secret hot pools I know about in the evening.
Day 20: Drive back to Auckland, rest/laundry. Final farewell dinner and friend time.
Day 21: He flies back to US.



Advice for Raro:

South = windier, best snorkelling, best swimming

East = beautiful Muri motus for kayaking
West = good sunsets, bad for swimming. OK for snorkelling

The plan would be to use up my Air NZ and Qantas airpoints to get to both Rarotonga and Aitutaki and book accommodation. I'd snorkel, swim, surf, paddleboard, and generally live in my bathing suit and live on fresh tropical fruit and drinks. Whenever I've been able to live this relaxed, outdoorsy lifestyle, I've been at my very happiest.

Over the water bungalows in Aitutaki are outrageously expensive ($1K+ per night), so I will have to make do with a normal beach hut. My life is so awful. :) 




For the record, I have a few favorite places in NZ. I can't cram them all into one trip, but here they are:

1. Kaikoura. It is my #1 place in NZ. Beautiful--the mountains plunge into the ocean. I haven't seen it since the earthquake, though. 
2. Wanaka. It only got knocked down from #1 after going to Kaikoura. I could go there again and again (and have) and never get tired of it. 
3. Queenstown. It's beautiful but overrun with tourists, and expensive. Those two things keep it from being #1 or 2. 
4. Matai Bay in Northland. Gorgeous. Not much else to do out there, though!
5. Otago Peninsula. Just an old school beauty, with penguins! A good standby for visiting friends/family. There's always fun walks and nature things to see out there.

US Trip Home

I'm home, I'm home!

This year is tough, but nowhere near the stress and despair we experienced last year. Last September, at this time, we were traveling to the hospital (an hour each way) every day to be with my dad as he started to battle cancer and undergo treatment. I was completely beside myself, and nothing else but him mattered last year. He came as close to dying, without dying, as his doctors had ever seen. It certainly looked very likely that he would pass away. I even postponed my flight home by several weeks because of it.

A year later, he still has a very aggressive and terminal form of leukemia, and is still undergoing chemotherapy. He will need treatment until he passes away, but for now, the chemo keeps the worst of the cancer at bay. He still is in a LOT of pain and cannot breathe well due to his other ailments. He is on a ton of morphine and has to be hooked up to an oxygen machine 24/7.

It is seriously a total miracle that he is still alive. It's incredible that someone can be in so much pain and have so much wrong with them, yet their hearts and brains still keep working. Humans are incredible! He is the toughest and most resilient person. And goodness me, my mom is a complete saint to keep putting up with him and his demands/moods/anger/stress/hopelessness/etc for over 20 years of his various illnesses now.

But because he can stay at home and doesn't need to be in the hospital every day, I am able to have more of a vacation this year. :) I still look after him and help my mom with his demands, but there is more freedom and I have even been able to go visit a friend in another nearby city for a few days this time.

As far as my money goes, I have a few goals for this trip:

1.  Meet my $5K USD minimum spend to get 80,000 airmiles. DONE.
2. Buy a new laptop and phone. DONE. I'm in the process of transferring my data and everything over now. For those that are curious, I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy S10e and an LG Gram 15".  
3. Review insurances, will, and Master Financial documents.
4. Get the above in a specific place that only my trusted loved ones know how to find in case of an emergency. 
5. Check Experian and Equifax credit reports from the US. Check TransUnion after October 13. Continue to check in on my scores quarterly via CreditKarma. (Last year, Equifax made me call in: 877-322-8228 to order my report--they refused me online.)

 Also, I've had some time to look over my finances a little bit. August was a 3 paycheck month, so I was able to save that third paycheck toward various goals (see sidebar). I was able to finish off my 2020 US trip fund of $3K with it! I am also 95% of the way toward my goal of saving $50K toward a house down payment. A friend is going to visit me in NZ next March/April, so I will need to save for that now.

Other than that, my goal is to NOT WORK. Five weeks of non-work bliss, and focusing solely on my family, friends, and health. Thus far, I have only answered emails (which technically is a main part of work, but). A trip to see a friend saw me get a facial and spend some really good quality time with my best friend from college. I loved it. I also plan on going to work out classes at the local community center and the gym as much as possible while I'm at home for the next 3 weeks.