oceania

Discover Oceania

Oceania, a region filled with breathtaking landscapes and rich cultural heritage, offers some of the most magical places on Earth to explore. From the coral gardens of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to the mystical fjords of New Zealand’s Fiordland. Oceania’s diverse islands and countries promise unforgettable adventures.
Whether you’re diving into the vibrant waters of Fiji, hiking through the ancient rainforests of Papua New Guinea, or relaxing on the pristine beaches of French Polynesia. Each destination provides a unique glimpse into the natural wonders and cultural treasures that make Oceania a truly enchanting part of the world. Join us as we embark on a journey to discover the magic that lies within Oceania’s extraordinary locales.

You can check out my instagram where I post lots of drone videos and photos of my travels.

My Time In New Zealand

As my second year of travelling, destiny took me to New Zealand. For Argentinians, it is very hard to get the Working Holiday Visa for New Zealand; it is more like a lottery than anything else. I was mentally ready to apply to Denmark. But on the day of the New Zealand application, I gave it a shot. My surprise when I got the visa was unreal.

So, all of a sudden, my plans changed drastically and I started to organize my year in New Zealand. When I arrived in Auckland, I had a plane ticket to Christchurch (the biggest city on the South Island). Because my cousin was living there at the time and she would let me stay at her place.

I ended up buying a car and finding a job. So I stayed seven months in Christchurch, travelling around during the weekends. I saved money, changed my car, and started my travels through the South Island.

Once most of the south was done. I started to go up north to find a job and experience life on the North Island. I got a job in Mount Maunganui, close to Tauranga. Here, I stayed 4 months, saved some money, and with that. I travelled with 3 more friends through almost all of the North Island.

I reckon New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It is one of the few places where you have mountains, lakes, incredible beaches, glaciers, thermal rivers, fjords, and more, all in a very small land mass.

Going to Australia, Where Oceania Will Steal My Heart

After exactly one year on my visa in New Zealand, I applied for a tourist visa in Australia for 6 months. My logic was, “As I’m so close, I should go and check this country out”. Little did I know at the time that I would end up “trapped” here because of Covid.

Few better places to be trapped than Australia. My 6-month tourist visa turned into a full visa with all the rights to work for two extra years because of the mayhem that the world was in at this point. Fortunately, Australia was very strict in its lockdown, especially between states, so there were some states in Australia that never got a case of Covid for the first year or so. We didn’t really feel the whole pandemic because we moved up north. Where the population is scarce, and there wasn’t much prohibition on what to do or where to be regarding Covid.

The Australian Adventure Begins

My first five months were in Sydney, which I loved! Here I met my current girlfriend, and from then onwards we’ve been travelling together.

From Sydney, we went to Gold Coast in the state of Queensland, where we stayed nine months. After that, we drove up to Port Douglas (to me, one of the best places in Australia). Here we lived for four months.

Then it was time to change states because Covid hit, almost everyone got it, and then regulations became lighter. So we travelled to Adelaide in South Australia and stayed for four months.

And here we did our last big journey to Perth in Western Australia. Specifically to Fremantle (a lovely little town in Perth).

In Fremantle, we lived for five months, saving as much as possible because we were planning our four-month adventure to South east Asia.

Of course, for us, it is very hard not to travel around for a long span of time, so in a week off, we went up north to Exmouth to swim with whale sharks and then back to Fremantle to continue working.

So again, life and its randomness gave me the opportunity to stay over two and a half years (when my idea was to stay six months) in this incredible country full of amazing chances. I will always be absolutely grateful to this unbelievable place.

Unexpected Travel To Hawaii And Return To Oceania

When we were finishing our four-month journey in Southeast Asia, we had to return home (Argentina and Chile). To see family and friends after many years apart. The original idea was to travel directly from Thailand to Chile, but searching many different routes, we discovered to our astonishment that it was, in fact, cheaper to go to Hawaii and then from there to Chile.

So we were “forced” to go to Hawaii, and of course, we ended up staying five days to discover this famous island.

If I’m completely honest, we didn’t really like Honolulu that much. The beaches were nice, and the mountains with their volcanic shapes were fascinating, but coming from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand, where the people were so nice and friendly, O’ahu didn’t feel like the island vibe or even the Polynesian vibe.

Apparently, talking with friends who have been to Hawaii before, if you want to experience the real Hawaii, you have to go to a less touristy island.

One thing that definitely blew our minds was Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden, where Jurassic Park was filmed. It is a landscape very hard to find elsewhere in the world. Although if you don’t have a car, it is hard to get there and even walk through the park because everything is made for driving.

Overall I would recommend to explore other islands like Big Island or Kauai besides O’ahu to experience the real Polynesian culture.