Peking Duk are firm favourites here in NZ, with their self-described “fucking raucous” energy pumping up New Zealanders for over five years now. When Adam and Reuben visited this side of the Tasman over the weekend, naturally we got to chatting about their hot tips for hanging out in NZ.
First up, if you don’t get our slang, it turns out Adam is your walking urbandictionary. “Chur” and “shot” are his faves, for the record. For the uninitiated, chur is basically “cheers”, and “shot” is an acknowledgement/filler word. “It’s like making a noise with your mouth, eh,” says Adam. Reuben jumps in with “that’s baaaaaaad!”, which he loves using to confuse people who don’t know that in NZ, bad means good. Except for when it means bad.
If you’re looking for a “bad” burger, Adam and Reuben are firm supporters of FergBurger, BurgerFuel, and Burger Burger. Queenstown is the home of FergBurger, and also just a glorious place to chill out in. On your way up the country, swing by Christchurch, and “the most beautiful city in the country”, Wellington.
In Wellywood, Cuba St is the place to kick back for coffee and a feed – anywhere on Cuba St is a good time. In Auckland, the coffee at Imperial Lane is rated “a-mazing” by Reuben, a self-proclaimed coffee wanker. Adam is simply happy with his Ristretto Nespresso pod. His advice? “Don’t stay in a hotel that doesn’t have a Nespresso with the little George Clooney picture.”
When you’re en-route to your hotel in Auckland, make sure to detour through our “exhilarating” new Waterview tunnel. “It’s a beautiful tunnel, shout out to Auckland,” Adam pipes in. The tunnel cost $1.7 Billion NZD, took seven years to build, and has been the only thing NZ has talked about for the entirety of 2017, so we’re stoked it has the Peking Duk seal of approval.
A couple hours down from Auckland, Tauranga is a sweet place to chill in summer too, with Reuben’s itinerary simply reading: “climb Mt. Maunganui, bro – walk up, get a selfie, watch the paragliders, and if it's possible, go paragliding.” Sounds easy enough. For other small-town must-dos? Take a photo in front of the giant L&P bottle in Paeroa, and the “giant carrot with the funny army hair cut” in Ohakune.
Despite NZ basically being their second home, the boys still have a long to-do list, like going to Hobbiton, and skydiving over Queenstown. If we don’t make it down the country, Reuben thinks we should just repeatedly drive through the tunnel set to different songs. Sweet as.
The boys have to shoot off, but before they go, Reuben has one last thought: “You know what else you Kiwis love? Pies. I love that you love pies.” And that sums up New Zealand nicely – giant novelty landmarks, a bit of nature, and a love for carbs.
