One More Off the Bucket List: New Zealand for the Holidays (Plus Hong Kong, Sydney + Brisbane Layovers): Things I Learned
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This holiday trip was a biggie: New Zealand, plus a slightly chaotic flight routing that gave us:
two separate 36-hour layovers in Hong Kong
an 8-hour layover in Sydney
an 8-hour layover in Brisbane
SUCH an incredible time, and I am so grateful for all the stops and the buzzing around! Rather than a long travel diary, this is a short version: things I learned, with a few favorite moments and reflections.
Hong Kong: the best surprise
I fully expected to enjoy Hong Kong, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as we did. And how crazy that you can get on a place in Boston Massachusetts and the next time you step off is in Hong Kong. Still can’t get over this reality!
Hong Kong is high energy, incredibly walkable (in a city way), and the food is just nonstop excellent. We stayed in both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, and I loved seeing both sides. If you only have one layover, you could absolutely pick one area and still have an amazing time, but I was really glad we did both. Island for amenities, but Kowloon for the most incredible nighttime skyline looking over at Island. Mind blowing.
Also: 36 hours is enough time to get a real feel for Hong Kong, which is rare for a layover.
Sydney and Brisbane: great teasers, not real “stops”
Eight hours in Sydney is not nearly enough, but it is a great way to get a feel for the city.
I had never been to Australia, so having a full 8 am-5 pm window on the ground was a no-brainer to leave the airport. I booked a private tour with Daily Sydney Tours, and they picked us right up at the airport and dropped us back at the end. We got to see the Opera House, we walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we saw some swimming holes I am kicking myself for not having a swimsuit at the ready for, and got a really great overview of the city and a couple of its lovely and leafy suburbs.
Our Brisbane jaunt was in the evening, so it felt more like a quick dinner visit than a city stop, but still nice to stretch, eat something good, and not have to do it all inside an airport.
Best meal of the trip
Dim sum at Golden Leaf in Hong Kong. This is also where I discovered XO sauce, which is now officially my favorite condiment. I did not know I was missing this from my life, but here we are.
A totally new food experience (for both of us)
This was actually a cool moment: it’s rare for two longtime food-industry employees to both try something totally new food-wise, but we did on this trip. We did a private night market food tour with City Unscripted and tried dessert soup (Tong Sui 糖水) in Hong Kong, and we were both genuinely blown away. Something incredibly and totally unlike anything either of us had ever eaten! Warm ginger soup, warm black sesame and almond milk soup, and cold mango soup. With each one I was sure the next one couldn’t match the one I was eating at that moment, but they were ALL my favorite! Shoutout to Benny for the best ordering.
New Zealand: the weather is in charge, even in summer
The biggest New Zealand travel lesson is simple: you have to be flexible. Even if you have the most beautifully planned itinerary in the world (naturally). Weather changes quickly and can absolutely disrupt plans, especially if you’re doing high-impact experiences that depend on visibility or safe conditions.
Here’s what helped us:
1) Keep an early and often eye on the weather
Not just the day before. I mean checking forecasts constantly and being willing to pivot and call and reschedule maybe even multiple times.
2) Rank your must-dos ahead of time
Even if you have every day booked, you should know your “can’t miss” items. Then if you need to cancel or reshuffle, you’re sacrificing the right things.
Our top “cancel other things to make this happen” activities were:
Milford Sound fly cruise fly (with Milford Sound Scenic Flights)
Mt Cook helicopter + glacier landing (with The Helicopter Line)
Arrowtown to Queenstown e-bike ride (with Around the Basin)
Those were the experiences we were willing to rearrange the whole trip for, if needed, and it turned out we actually did have to do some big shuffling to get in all three, but it was WELL worth it.
The mistake I won’t make again: no holiday backup plan
We had weather-based plans on Christmas Day, and they got canceled due to, yup, weather. Sounds fine… except that left us with no backup plan on a holiday, in peak season, in a small-ish destination.
Everything was either closed or completely booked.
So: if you’re traveling over a major holiday, especially in a resort town or tourism-driven area, build in a Plan B that is not weather-dependent and doesn’t require reservations. It does not need to be exciting. It just needs to exist. Of course this is something I will help prep for your trip with me!
Build in rest time (even if you’re “not a rest person”)
This trip was active, but the rest moments ended up being some of the most memorable. One favorite: the “tribathe” at Onsen Hot Pools in Queenstown (hot tub, cold plunge, steam shower). It was such a good little [tri] breather and reminder that a little rest time should be treated like an actual part of your itinerary, not an afterthought.
Best business takeaway: club level rooms are incredibly useful
This trip reminded me how valuable club level rooms can be, especially on international travel days. Not just for the breakfast & all-day snacks, but for the logistics:
somewhere to go if your room isn’t ready
a place to relax, eat, freshen up
usually a dedicated concierge
It turns early arrivals into something that feels smooth instead of chaotic. This is one of those upgrades that can quietly improve a trip a lot more than people expect.
Hotel room must-have
A Nespresso machine. Always.
Flying tip: Queenstown window seat
If you’re flying into or out of Queenstown, get a window seat. It’s one of the most scenic flight approaches I’ve ever seen.
Where we stayed
Conrad Hong Kong (Hong Kong Island)
The Langham (Kowloon)
Sofitel Queenstown
The Hermitage Hotel (Aoraki / Mt Cook)
