New Zealand ranks for solo travellers

New Zealand ranks for Solo Travellers according to this news article...

Editors at Travel + Leisure magazine have given New Zealand the title of best country for solo, independent travellers.

The magazine says it's where adventure seekers can trek glaciers and rainforests, bungee jump and jet boat and meet some of the "friendliest and most open-minded people in the world."

While a country's safety and security may be easy to evaluate, editors say they wanted to consider other factors that are important to solo travellers.

For instance, "…is the country you've chosen a happy place?"

"Is it a country where you'll be made to feel welcome, a nation where you can easily interact with the locals, where conversation flows easily even if you're struggling with a new language? For truly rewarding solo travel, it's crucial that you can connect with the culture and not feel like an outsider."

For that, editors say they consulted the Happy Planet Index which looks at environmental impact and human well-being in 151 countries.

For safety, editors consulted the Global Peace Index.

Top 10 countries for solo travellers according to Travel + Leisure

1. New Zealand
2. Norway
3. Switzerland
4. Costa Rica
5. Austria
6. Vietnam
7. Chile
8. Tie: Japan and Sweden
9. Indonesia
10. Germany

Queenstown- worth the trip!

Many travel and expat forums will tell the entrepid traveller that if they visit only one place in New Zealand, make sure it's Queenstown.  

There is so much material on the internet - tourism,  activity marketing and personal travel stories - that it would be like throwing a match on a bonfire to make an inadequate attempt to add to the mass of excellent material available. There are also so many pictures of the unbelievably endless majestic beauty that surrounds the whole area and which will simply engulf any visitor. 

What I can say is that from personal experience,  it is an absolute "must do" on anyone's travel agenda -  for both tourists and kiwis alike.  It has a magical air and at once conjures up a sense of being in the company of the great travel destinations such as Zurich,  Vancouver or the Alps but likewise a surreal sense of being on an epic movie set. 


I am here at the end of winter and the snow still blankets the ski fields and,  while I love the experience of snow, soft drizzle and misty mountains, my senses are attuned to imagine this beauty in dryer weather that can be enjoyed and consumed on my motorbike with my wife and other close riding buddies. The roads snaking through mountains and valleys beside rivers and lakes seems a dream for any biker and I'm planning to make this the pinnacle point of a South Island trip which is fast becoming more exciting to me than most other holiday options. Apart from the surrounding scenic options,  Queenstown city itself is pretty with all the quaint picturesque options that make this a premier holiday spot. 

Many kiwis say  Queenstown is too expensive and has become a playground only the wealthy can afford and would sooner head off from Auckland International Airport to  the Gold Coast in Australia,  Thailand,  Fiji or one of the many other foreign destinations available through travel packages offered so cheaply. I'm guessing that with so many foreigners flooding Queenstown the locals don't mind that kiwis feel that way. 

We've had $10 all day breakfast special offers with $2.50 coffee in Arrowtown and a $15 all day steak special in central Queenstown.  Yes, every adventure activity is pretty costly but then I'm easy to please.  I'm quite happy driving around and admiring the scenes and sites. Call me old but I just don't need my thrills arranged for me as I would being a foreign visitor.  I get my adrenalin fix from opening the throttle on my Hayabusa - and it's why I can't wait to be here on my "baby" combining my passion for riding and soaking in the most amazing scenery on offer which arguably would rank as some of the finest rugged,  unspoilt available anywhere today. 

Immigration Issues in NZ Elections 2014

An interesting NZ Herald story of Chinese candidates telling Chinese migrants told to vote if they consider NZ home . It notes that many of the 200,000 Chinese migrants from Communist China do not necessarily understand the democratic process and therefore may not prioritise voting or recognise it's relevance and importance.

As a migrant myself I found it quirky that along with Citizens, Residents can also vote, as per this INZ website advising who can vote . Given that Immigration Policy is such an emotive and often explosive topic, it still seems strange to me that Residents can have a say in a governement whose policy may be directed to affect them before they become citizens as in NZ First Winston Peter's stance on Immigration. It seems somewhat counter-intuitive to me but perhaps it is common in other countries.

As with any Immigration political policy debate, New Zealand has some rather specific topical areas of national interest around very current and recent issues. There have been recent enquiries into the extent of politician involvement in the immigration process of certain influental migrants Kim Dotcom MegaUpload Immigration and there are issues of housing prices skyrocketing, particularly in Auckland as noted in this article Immigrant effect on land prices and then there is the ongoing debate on foreign ownership of strategic or farming landsand whether NZ is too lenient with foreign ownership?

All this to say that Immigration policy is designed with Citizens in mind and migrants, while made to feel as welcome as possible, really are a part of the process only to the extent that it serves the interests of the host country. Of course, most immigrants to New Zealand have every intention of a long term settlement vision so in a strange way the "national" interest they may feel somewhat removed from now really is the one that will hopefully protect their status as future citizens for them and their families.