Traveling alone in New Zealand to visit the loneliest tree in the world

May 24

Although Queenstown's burgers are world-famous, no one tells you that the moment you get off the plane from Queenstown, you will be shocked by the mountains surrounded by misty snow; although millions of people on the Internet have gone to see the burgers Naka is the "loneliest tree in the world", but no one tells you that at sunrise the sun peeks out from the treetops, and when the morning sun shines on the lake it is a completely different world from dusk (in fact, no one tells you Let me tell you that the whole town’s tourists love to crowd in front of that tree). No one can replace you reading a book quietly by the lake, no one can replace you encountering those unexpected conversations.

Last week I finally went to New Zealand, which I mentioned a while ago on the last day of my seven-day book . Ever since I moved to Australia three years ago, this "neighbor" has been on my travel list, even though it's not far away. It takes three and a half hours to fly from Melbourne, and the time difference is two hours. However, the background of British colonial history, the famous natural scenery, and the close exchanges between the two peoples (although most of them are New Zealanders immigrating to Australia) have indeed made New Zealand and Australia closer. feel.

A short-term solo trip is the most effective recharging trip for me. No one else is involved in what I see and hear. Only I can interpret it exclusively. From the moment I open my eyes to before going to bed, I can continue to talk to myself. It’s very satisfying. Enjoyable. After moving to Australia, there are fewer opportunities to travel alone. I am very happy that I have a rare opportunity to go out alone this time. As an E-centered person, the energy gained from traveling alone is channeled into social interactions. While harassing friends remotely, I also enjoy casual conversations with strangers during the trip.

Sometimes we wonder, in today’s world where Internet information is so developed and it’s so easy to understand life on the other side of the world, is travel worth our money, time and effort?

New Zealand is also one of the destinations that is flooded with tourism information. There is even an account on Xiaohongshu that updates daily recommendations on what to wear in the South Island tourist towns of Queenstown and Wanaka, as well as self-driving, skydiving, and canyon viewing around New Zealand. Bay videos abound.

But after going there this time, I think it’s really worth it——

No one can replace you reading a book quietly by the lake, no one can replace you encountering those unexpected conversations.

It is common to see people sitting and enjoying a quiet moment alone by Lake Wanaka.

The tree standing alone in the lake was dubbed "the loneliest tree in the world" by some travel magazine.

I went for a walk and came back. The lonely tree was surrounded by people who were not lonely.

Come and look at the trees before sunrise. The sun slowly rises from the other side and penetrates the treetops.

In the morning I brought a book and sat by the lake, but the mountain scenery was so beautiful that it was distracting.

The aurora failed to catch in Auckland

The first stop on my journey was Auckland, the largest city in the North Island of New Zealand. That day happened to be the global aurora outbreak. All my friends in Melbourne became light-chasing photographers, and even the community groups were full of fans who casually took photos in the backyard. Purple skies, turns out I missed it all in Auckland.

The next day, I was really unwilling to give in. Even though the Internet said that it was difficult to see the Aurora in the North Island, especially in Auckland, I still went to One Tree Hill, the only high place in Auckland, with a glimmer of hope. Unexpectedly, there was not a single passenger on the entire bus. When we arrived at the entrance of the park, a few cars occasionally whizzed past, but there was not a single passerby. Don’t Aucklanders follow the spotlight? At that time, my heart sank. I looked at the park in complete darkness with almost no street lights. I planned to go home if I didn’t see anyone else within half an hour.

Just when I was thinking this, two men appeared with flashlights. I immediately followed them secretly and walked for a short distance. Unexpectedly, they stopped and turned around and asked me if I wanted to go to the top of the mountain to see the aurora? After chatting, we found out that they were Buddhist monks from Thailand (one of them was still wearing a cassock). They came to Wellington, another big city in New Zealand, this year to hold a religious ceremony. They happened to be in Auckland in the past few days, and they were also curious and drove over to chase the light.

So the three of us, non-locals, went together. When the monk heard that I was from Taiwan, he enthusiastically said that his colleague had practiced at Dharma Drum Mountain in Kaohsiung for many years. He himself had visited many temples and grottoes in Dunhuang and Longmen, China. , he said that he did not know Chinese, but he learned a lot of words in the process of practice, such as "Dan Tian". In the end, I failed to catch up, leaving only a photo in which the top of the mountain was shrouded in thick clouds, but the two monks were kind enough to give me a ride. To be honest, it is really dangerous to get into a stranger's car during the journey, but somehow it is particularly relaxing in this country where humans and animals are harmless.

I didn’t catch it, and only left a photo in which the top of the mountain was shrouded in thick clouds.

Aboriginal Transformative Justice Everywhere

In addition to its natural beauty, New Zealand has one thing that ranks high on the list: transformational justice for its indigenous people, the Maori people.

Until this time, I didn't know that New Zealand has a new name "Aoteroa New Zealand". This new country name puts Maori in front of English. The slogans and broadcasts in public places are bilingual. Recently, Auckland Central Station Britomart has also begun to gradually replace it with the Maori language Waltemata. Even in the Bird Park in Queenstown, the names of every bird are in Maori, and the tour guide also explains in English what role these birds play in Maori society. This makes people realize that respect for the ancestors who first came to this land is not limited to certain occasions and certain moments, but is a normal part of New Zealand life.

Bilingual signage at the train station, Maori at the top and English at the bottom

The Auckland Art Gallery artwork consists of seashells, which are supposed to be symbols related to navigation.

The "paddle" of the Pacific island countries.

In the Auckland Museum, there are really quite a lot of cultural relics and records left by the Maori, ranging from crops, food, weaving, products to artistic creations. For example, the Maori often use Pounamu (nephrite) to make various jewelry. In the early years, only Maori The king can make coats with kiwi feathers, etc., and there are two gathering houses full of sculptures. Photography is not allowed in one of them, but visitors can go in and actually touch and feel the power of Maori in art and culture. Abundant! As one of the Austronesian ethnic groups, the Maori also have close "kinship relations" with other island countries in the Pacific, including Taiwan, which makes people feel the "power" of this culture.

Isn’t the Maori gathering house spectacular?

I was surprised to see that Maori people also use a lot of jade to make jewelry.

The origin of the Polynesian people, there is a small Taiwan in the upper left corner!

However, friends in New Zealand also admit that New Zealanders are the most "politically correct". Various surveys show that the economic level, health status and educational level of Maori are always lower than the national average. I recall that last year Australia held a referendum on the voice of Aboriginal people, hoping to include Aboriginal consultation opinions in the legislative process. As a result, more than 60% of the country voted against it. The shameful result shows that we really still have a lot to learn from New Zealand.

coexist with nature

New Zealand and Australia's customs are world-famous for their strictness. When entering the customs of both countries, there are lavish announcements warning not to bring items that may affect the local ecology, which shows their strong determination to protect local species. This time in New Zealand, in addition to not even a trace of plastic bags in the supermarket, I also saw the cleaning brand ecostore that I often use in Australia. Unexpectedly, in New Zealand supermarkets, it only provides reusable empty bottles. As well as self-service refill machines, everyone is encouraged to bring their own empty bottles to buy. I have never seen this brand in Australian supermarkets.

Ecostores in supermarkets only provide reusable empty bottles and self-service refill machines

Another interesting thing is that there is a private bird park in Queenstown, a well-known tourist town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is said to be the "easiest" place to see New Zealand's national bird, the Kiwi (yes, it's geography). You will learn it in textbooks!). As the longest-living bird species in the world that has not yet become extinct, Kiwi have many aspects that are not adapted to modern life. For example, their eyesight is very poor, and their wings have degraded to the point where they cannot fly at all. There are only about 6,800 of them left in New Zealand. In this bird park, you can currently see 6 kiwis. They all live in a nearly completely dark building. Photography and flash are also prohibited inside the bird park. Before entering, I was worried that I would not be able to find them due to my poor night vision. , I didn’t expect them to be very active, and I immediately saw them running around looking for food. They were about the same size as chickens, with long and sharp beaks, and used their sense of smell and touch to assist their extremely poor eyesight.

Kiwi specimen, the egg next to it is disproportionately large, taking up 20% of the mother's body

In addition, many birds that often appear in Maori vocabulary are also on the verge of extinction. Their biggest and worst natural enemy is the possum (civet) from Australia. The civet was introduced to New Zealand from Australia and has no natural enemies. , has become a natural enemy of all birds, so the New Zealand government encourages the culling of civets. Therefore, in addition to New Zealand's well-known wool products, gloves and sweaters made of civet fur are even more lightweight and warm, and they can contribute to New Zealand's ecology. It is really the most brilliant promotion.

This kind of creation that recreates the relationship between Maori communities and birds is often seen in bird gardens.

This is a common small parrot in New Zealand, called Kākāriki in Maori.

The infamous Australian civet looks cute, but can be quite annoying at times.

Back at the private bird park, the only activities they had in the park were a guided tour introducing kiwi, and the other was an interactive display of various animals. "How should the birds be displayed?" I thought to myself, maybe They were tied with anklets, like those commonly seen in pet shops. Unexpectedly, these birds were able to spread their wings freely. They used food to lure the birds to fly to the wooden pole held by the nursery. Some birds "went home" after eating enough. ”, the nursery just smiled and said: This is our training, we can never force them to do anything.