There’s no way to learn everything about a place you’re traveling to. You just have to do your best to research it and hope you find people who write about the things you most want to see or experience. Here are some things that we missed in New Zealand, but it’s okay because I wouldn’t change how or what we did on our trip.

Missed in Auckland

We were in town, sort of, for the Santa Parade in Auckland. Sure, it’s a parade, but it’s one that I think a lot of people wouldn’t be able to say they’ve seen. I always like those experiences that feel exclusive, especially when they are inexpensive or free. However, the day that we scheduled Tiritiri Matangi Island was the same as the day of the parade.

Tiritiri Matangi was clearly the better choice for us; we’re donating $1 for every “Polly Penguin Wants to Fly” we sell on Amazon and on our website because the experience was so great. It’s an exclusive activity as well. They only allow 150 people on the island a day. Still, if we had known about the parade, I could have scheduled us for Tiritiri Matangi on a different day.

Missed in Dunedin

We walked past the Magic Moments restaurant a couple of times, but it was always at a time when the restaurant was closed between meals. Aside from the possibility of seeing a magic show while eating, they advertised unlimited coffee for breakfast! That only happens in America, so we tried to make it in time for the next morning’s breakfast. We missed it by a couple of minutes.

Dunedin also scheduled a parade for Dec. 1. We were scheduled to leave before then.

Missed in Wellington

By one day, we missed the debut of the “Alice in Wonderland” exhibition at Te Papa in Wellington. I would’ve loved to get tickets for the premiere and have a mad tea party. “Alice in Wonderland” is one of the greatest stories ever written. I would’ve loved to see a New Zealand version. Instead, we went to Rotorua.

Planned or Unplanned

When you’ve already paid and booked your hotels, travel, and tours, it makes it difficult to adjust your schedule. The trade off for flexibility, though, is that you may miss being able to attend something else, and in the case of hotels and transportation, you may have to pay more. We were more than happy with how our trip worked out, but there were just a couple of things we had to give up to keep our obligated reservations. There were some things we missed in New Zealand, but that’s okay; it gives us more incentive to head back again.