AROUND THE WORLD
Pickleball Fever
in New Zealand
BY JIM HACKENBERG
H
ave you ever thought about taking a long vacation, but
worried your pickleball game might suffer from the layoff?
Or, have you dreamed of combining a vacation to a beautiful
country with the hope of finding some pickleball venues to play?
Well, New Zealand is the place to go! Not only is New Zealand one
of the most beautiful, welcoming countries you will ever visit, but
the locals are also getting a severe case of Pickleball Fever!
My wife and I have thought about visiting New Zealand for many years. Friends who have been there
had nothing but great things to say about the country and the people, and they provided us with
numerous recommendations on where to go and what to see.
Since we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary this year, we decided it was the perfect time to take
New Zealand off our bucket list. However, picking the right time to visit was a challenge. New Zealand’s
summer is during our winter and we certainly couldn’t miss all of our Arizona pickleball tournaments!
Plus, the US Open was scheduled for late April, and by May New Zealand would be experiencing late
fall/early winter weather. So we picked April 1-22 as our trip dates. It couldn’t have worked out any
better. The weather was cool, but mostly sunny our entire visit, and the scenery was breathtaking. But,
what about the pickleball?
While our friends provided us with numerous site recommendations, none of them had played
pickleball during their tour of the country. Somehow (not
sure how it happened) Jeff Parke
got wind of our plans to visit New
Zealand. Jeff, a retired veterinarian
from Seattle, and his wife, Nancy, a
retired doctor, moved to Auckland,
New Zealand, to be closer to their
daughter, son-in-law and two
granddaughters.
Jeff had learned to play pickleball in
Seattle and was anxious to help grow
the sport in New Zealand. And what a
wonderful job he’s done in a relatively
short period of time. Jeff not only
reached out to help us find places to
play pickleball, but also offered housing
opportunities and pickleball contacts
throughout the country—both the North
and South Islands.
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