I’ve had lots of friends and family ask me recently what my life in New Zealand is like. People (often Americans) usually don’t know much about the country other than being able to name Auckland. They assume New Zealand is just like Australia or that all of the country is just roaming sheep. I can confirm that there are TONS of sheep, but the rest of the assumptions are a bit off. In this post I’ll be talking about my small-town life in Twizel and what it’s really like.
Where is Twizel?
Twizel, New Zealand is a small town located in the Canterbury region of the South Island. It was built in the sixties as a temporary town for construction workers building the nearby Waitaki Dam. The story goes that the workers ended up loving the town so much that they decided to stay after the dam was completed.
Twizel is about a 2 hour drive from the nearest “big” towns, Wanaka and Timaru. The nearest airport is in Queenstown, 2 hours and 20 minutes away. It takes a little bit over 3.5 hours to make it to the closest international airport in Christchurch.
Natural beauty
Four nearby lakes surround Twizel: Ohau, Pukaki, Benmore, and Ruataniwha. The Twizel River runs adjacent to the town and alongside the Twizel river trail. A bit out of town, there are canals with bright turquoise water that feed into the nearby lakes. Here, you can always spot fishermen trying to catch salmon and trout.
Twizel sits in a basin, so you have views of mountains in every direction. On a clear day, you often get a gorgeous view of Aoraki/Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain. The hiking trails around Mount Cook are a 45 minute drive from Twizel.
Daily life in Twizel
Twizel’s town square is the center of all the action. A bunch of shops and restaurants surround the little grassy square, which is also host to any outdoor markets or special events. The places we frequent the most are the two grocery stores (big Four Square and little Four Square), Jasmine Thai restaurant, and Hydro Cafe.
On the day to day, I’ve been trying to soak up all of the natural beauty Twizel has to offer. Ben and I like to go for walks along the river and to his family’s lake-side hut in the woods near Lake Pukaki. We also spend a fair bit of time working on the garden in our yard.
Things to do in Twizel
Twizel is located in the heart of the Mackenzie region, which makes it a great home base for exploring the area. Most of the popular activities for tourists nearby are outdoors. Twizel is popular with cyclists, as part of the Alps2Ocean trail runs through the town. We often see them riding on the main road past our house.
As I mentioned up above, fishing and hiking are popular activities in Twizel due to the proximity of canals and mountains. People also come here for hunting, star gazing, and scenic plane tours. Since New Zealand is such a small-sized country, anything you want to do is at most a few hours away. Unlike in the United States, you get a variety of different terrains and climates relatively close together here.
Small town vibes
Coming from the suburbs of Chicago, I was a bit shocked by how small Twizel seemed. It has a population of about 1,300 people in the winter, which triples in the summer because of campers and holiday home owners. Since it’s not right on the main highway, there’s not many people that pass through without meaning to stop here. You can walk around the whole town in about an hour.
I recently attended a concert slash comedy show in a wool shed in Omarama, about twenty minutes from Twizel. During intermission, it seemed like everyone knew everyone else. In a crowd of about a hundred people, I saw nonstop waves, hugs, and small talk catch ups.
Living in a small town, obviously, means that you won’t have as many options when it comes to food or shopping. It’s taken a bit of adjusting to get used to the fact that I can’t have anything I want shipped to me the same day. In fact, our house is considered so rural that we don’t even have a mailbox (we use a PO box in the town square)! You obviously have to sacrifice some convenience for being able to live in such a beautiful, remote place.
⇉ Pros and cons of living in New Zealand
Final thoughts
To me, living in a small town is both a big pro and a big con. Living here, you get a sense of community and an extremely peaceful existence. You know your neighbors and can count on someone to lend a helping hand when you need it. It’s safe, quiet, and insulated from the stress of the world at large.
However, this sense of insulation can be a bit jarring. Sometimes, I almost feel like I live on a different planet here – I feel so removed from the world I grew up in. When you factor in the time change and less-than-great cell phone coverage in some areas, keeping up with friends and family back home becomes difficult (sorry, Mama!).
If you’d like to read about my experience getting into the country while the borders are closed, click here. In my next post, I’ll be giving some tips on applying for a visa if you’re in a similar situation as me.
Until next time!
xoxo Niki
Flights | I start my search on Google Flights, then usually book directly with the airline so I’m protected in case anything goes wrong.
Accommodation | Booking.com is my go-to for booking accommodation. They have an awesome cancellation policy and a super easy-to-use website.
Activities | GetYourGuide is my all-time favorite site to book day tours and activities because their cancellation policy is unmatched. Viator is another great option, especially for multi-day trips and tours.
Luggage | Carry-on only or bust! I use my Fjallraven Kanken backpack on just about every trip I take. I also love Beis for carry-on suitcases, weekender bags, and makeup/toiletry cases.
Photography | I use my iPhone 12 Pro, a Canon G7x Mark ii, and a DJI Mini 2 drone for all of my photos and videos. I also edit my photos in Lightroom.
Hi, the whole thing is going perfectly here and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s actually excellent, keep up writing.
love it!!!
Have the best time in NZ 😘😘😘😘
Thank you 🙂