The past 2 weeks was holiday from university. My original plan was to go skiing for the majority of the holiday. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with me and it rained almost every day. This trapped me in two of New Zealand’s most touristy towns, Wanaka and Queenstown, waiting for better weather. During this wait I did get a day of skiing in which resulted in broken equipment. I went into many different ski shops trying to find a good deal on a new binding. Although most shops felt my pain of needing a cheap but quality deal, few were willing to provide one. I was looking for New Zealand hospitality in a money making tourist town. I finally compromised with one guy who agreed to install used bindings for 100 dollars, I tried to cut a deal with cash, no luck, I tried to get a base tune included, no luck. Nobody seemed to care about anything but making as much money as possible. When I went to get the skis the next day I was pleasantly surprised. I received brand new bindings comparable to what I already had, and he tuned the bases all for the agreed price. I was confused as to why he was so unwilling to compromise before but in the end, really helped me out. Maybe the kiwi’s in Wanaka weren’t as business oriented as I thought.
I though Wanaka was a tourist town but discovered I was mistaken once I saw Queenstown. The city does not feel like New Zealand at all. It is full of ever tourist activity possible. It is considered the adventure capital of the world but at a cost. The streets are just packed with ways to spend your money. It has the high end shopping some people look for. Heaps and heaps of outdoor apparel and equipment shops just waiting to convince unaware tourist that they need better things. And it has more travel agencies and activity organizing desk then I think anyone would ever need. Every hostel can book every activity right from the front desk, or you can just walk out the door and there are at least five different companies that could also organize the same activities. All at insanely high prices. It is very hard to run into any kiwis in Queenstown. Most all the people in the city are tourist looking for adventures. A large majority of the people working in the city are not kiwis either. Many young people take working holiday for a year or longer in Queenstown. I don’t know how anyone could live in a city that seems to be so far away from a real life and stuck in vacations mode all the time. It is no wonder that almost every kiwi I know hates Queenstown. Maybe I am become a true kiwi now that I have been there, and never want to go back.
After giving up on skiing I went on a road trip around southland, the Catlins, and the west coast. I made it appoint to stay out of major cities and try to be off the tourist grid as much as possible. Still, I found that most towns try to have some sort of tourist attractions. Ever since wool prices have decreased in New Zealand, people need to find a way to boast the economy. They do this back attracting as many people from other then New Zealand, because with these people, comes money from other the New Zealand. As soon as I got out of Queenstown I finally ran into the types of kiwi’s I was hoping too. From the nice ladies in the Salvation army, giving us a dollar of the already cheap clothing because we are traveling students who are broke. And the lady who owned a beautiful home in the middle of a sheep farm that was a hostel. This home could have easily been an expensive bed and breakfast, yet she kept some inexpensive dorm beds available for people on a budget. She sat and chatted with us for a good half an hour as we ate dinner. She even apologized for talking so much, she claimed she was just very interested in every traveler she meets. I feel this relates to what I talked about before, in the kiwis are very interested in you because you bring something different to their small little island. I found people on the west coast who also owned extremely nice hostels. They could easily convert them into more expensive hotels, but instead prefer to keep them as hostels so everyone can enjoy them.
I feel that in the smaller towns around New Zealand, although tourist still exist, it is more personal. The people in these towns depend on tourism to stimulate their economy. They know they need you and because of this, they are very grateful for you. They are extremely nice and an interested in you just as much as you them. I feel that places like Queenstown know what your there for, and don’t really need to try to pull you in any more, rather they just bluntly offer whatever you desire. Because of this they have become ungrateful of the tourist and don’t need to strive to be personal. Yet to my surprise I found true kiwi hospitality after all in these tourist spots. At the beginning of my travels I feared that the entire country had turned into a big tourist trap. Now, I know that New Zealand has found a unique balance of utilizing tourism while remaining personal.
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