Hi all. I'm an american that will be in NZ in febuary for some rock climbing. after I have two weeks to run. I want to find the artsy, bohemian areas. What city would you recommend? and what places in that city? What would be the amsterdamn of NZ? thanks.
yeah my vote goes to wellington and nelson too. Both if you have the time. if you in the nelson area the road up to motueka is ever so boho - there's this camp ground at a place called Ruby Bay that is so lovely and full of permanent, house bus driving residents. When we stayed there we spent the night chatting to Chileans and some guys from the Czech republic around a bonfire under the stars. Awesome.
Check out a place called "Barrytown".... It's not really even a town... it's an old miners pub in the middle of nowhere.... You can find it on any of the "Stray Bus" maps. The locals there are certifiably insane and a hell of a lot of fun. They absolutely force you to party (cough cough cough) when you arrive. There's also a knife maker in that town that is the bomb. The other place I found lots of laid back peoples.... Raglan! These are surfer hippies though... Bound to be a packed place in the summer - so lots of fun! I'll also side with the natives here and say that Welly is awesome. It's so much more Kiwi infused then Auckland...because Auckland is a big city like any international big city...McDonalds, Wendy's, Firestone Tires... Nelson... beautiful place... lots of sunshine... friendly locals (but then again all Kiwi's are friendly once you make a crack at Dubya). Hope it helps... I had a blast there.
