February 6, 2026
So, we flew to Christchurch on the South Island and spent a couple of days there. Visited a national park, wandered around. We then drove south, heading toward Queenstown for an eventual jumping off to Melbourne, Australia.
Not to keep you in suspense, with no remorse, we cut our NZ vacation short and put the extra days into Melbourne. We gave up on New Zealand. As we say in Florida, sometimes, the juice is not worth the squeeze.
Given the distance and cost (flight from Dallas is 16 hours) we would not recommend a trip to New Zealand. New Zealand features a few wonderful natural sites. The mountains, glaciers and so forth. But you visit one, and then you have to drive three hours to get to the next one.
It is essentially a camper-trailer vacation. You like that, you can go to New Zealand.
New Zealand has a kind of quietude that makes you feel as though you’re in an episode of The Twilight Zone. People wandering around, not saying all that much and really, with seemingly no place to go or things to do. So, you seek the sites.
You would think you can take a break, you know, go to a fine restaurant, maybe a shopping excursion, or a concert. But there are no fine restaurants, there is no shopping, there are no concerts. You’re kind of stuck trying to figure out what to do with yourself.
We had unremitting rain for 10 days. I’m talking 90% of the time. Cool, blustery weather. We are reminded…it is summer here. We had plenty of tours scheduled but then realized that what the rain didn’t take away, the average nature of the experience made enthusiasm fade.
And then you have the presence of the nanny-state. I was stopped for speeding. You are saying to yourself…yup, I’m not surprised…heavy foot, etc.
I was stopped doing 68mph in a 60mph zone, on a desolate country road, the only other vehicle within two miles being a police car parked anonymously in the woods by the road. I couldn’t call that a speed trap because the whole country is a speed trap. I leave it to you to decide whether or not I should have been stopped. And how guilty I was.
Policeman was nice enough, did not ticket me but had a lot of questions. I guess you don’t roust tourists unless they give you a super good reason to roust them. I wonder…was I two mph away from an orange jump suit? But this doesn’t make for a buoyant frame of mind.
OK, well, New Zealand. The highlight of the trip was the visit to the Hobbit Shire set out in the countryside. That stood apart. As for the scenery, we come from the United States and after visiting, what, 80 countries, I am convinced that no other country has the breadth and variety and sheer beauty of the United States. So, thinking here that while New Zealand has beautiful mountains, it takes a Herculean effort to go and see them and so maybe better to fly to Denver and wander around out there. Or Montana, or a hundred other places. And there are beautiful lakes in New Zealand, for sure, but you know, I grew up in the Finger Lakes and so, enough said.
Population of New Zealand totals five million souls. About the same as Kentucky or Oregon or Colorado. There are 25 million sheep in New Zealand.
That crushes the US…we have five million sheep.
So, we flew out early and are here in Melbourne. I’ll say it flat out…we are in love with Australia. Lovely people, very friendly. We’re at the Park Hyatt hotel, nicer than anything in New Zealand. We went shopping today at the Chadstone Shopping Centre…two million square feet…over 500 stores. Not a question of who is there, more a statement that everyone is there. Super fun.
We’re arranging for a day of deep-sea fishing and also renting a convertible and driving the iconic and scenic Great Ocean Road. 150 miles of oceanside views and vista and stunning cliffs, rock formations and so forth.
Now Australia has its issues. Like the United States, it is wrestling with immigration. Over 30% of the population here is foreign-born (twice the US percentage of 15%), many Aussies feel increasingly nervous and unhappy about that. There are the aboriginal issues that fester much as our own race issues. We have learned that race as an issue is not a US province…it seems to be everywhere and everyone is wrestling with it.
You read about the same characters here as in the US. For example, they have their rabid racists…people who believe the US is the only place for that are not aware of the world at large.
But much as in the US, the daily thrum of life is free of strife and like the US, strife emerges at various choke points but does not represent the overwhelming majority of the experiences people have in daily life. Chadstone was absolutely mobbed with people…we didn’t see a single policeman all day because none are necessary.
We have another 10 days or so here and in Tasmania and then we head back home. We have people staying at our homes, they report the weather, hard to believe we had 16-degree wind chill in Florida.
Imagine…people leaving Florida in January to go to Australia to get out of the winter weather.
Thoughts, questions, or reflections? I’d love to hear them. You can reach me anytime at anthony@workingprofit.com
