New Zealand

New Zealand and Australia had been at the top of my list of places that I wanted to visit for a very long time. Getting to finally go there was a dream come true. Okay, first things first, getting down under isn’t a super easy thing. You’ve got to be dedicated to travel for the lengths you have to go to get there, but mark my words, the super long flight is totally worth it. We flew from Denver to San Francisco, then San Francisco to Auckland. If you can manage to fly through the night and get some shut eye, I’d totally recommend it. The ideal time to go is November-January, our winter is their summer. You also have to decide how you want to split your time between the north & south island.

The time change can really kick your butt. They’re 18 hours ahead of us, so you lose a day going there but gain a day when you come back. After the long haul across the Pacific Ocean, we were so excited when we started making our descent into Auckland and saw the beautiful landscape from up in the clouds.

Waiheke Island 

 We started our trip in Auckland because we knew it would take us a few days to get acclimated to the time change and Auckland seemed like a good, kind of slow paced place to ease ourselves into it. There was enough to see and do but we didn’t have to cram tons in over our three days there.

On our first full day, we took a short ferry ride to Waiheke Island. The island was beautiful and is home to dozens of vineyards. If you enjoy wine, you’ll love this place. I totally recommend renting a car on the island to get around. It is super cheap and you can see the entire island easily.

Don’t rent a scooter. I humiliated myself trying to ride one, but that’s another story. The island is too big to get around on one & a lot of the roads are too rough for scooters. We settled on the Mudbrick Vineyard for a delicious lunch, wine tasting & tour. We drove along the coast and found tons of beautiful spots to stop and enjoy. If going to Auckland, I would definitely recommend giving yourself a full day to explore Waiheke Island.

sky tower, auckland museum & the wharf

A few interesting places to visit in Auckland are the Sky Tower, Auckland Museum and the wharf area. The Sky Tower sits 772 feet up in the air & gives you a full 360 degree view of the city and the outlying islands. Make sure to book your tickets ahead of time. We got there right before a huge school group and our tickets got us right in and up to the top.

The museum was filled with interesting exhibits and wasn’t very crowded. If you enjoy museums, this would be a great one to check out. The grounds around the museum are very nice as well. One other spot I’d recommend is the wharf.

This area is where all the boats and ferries take off from. There are tons of restaurants and shops to check out. If you’re looking for dinner down there, I would definitely make reservations a head of time. The wharf is pretty bustling at night, especially on the weekend. Auckland was a good, low-key place to start our three week trip down under. 

the shire!!!

Full disclosure, I am a total Lord of The Rings nerd. I fell in love with the movies from the very beginning. My very first glimpse of The Shire stole my heart away. You can probably imagine how overjoyed I was to find out that you could visit the actual movie set where all The Shire scenes were filmed.

We picked up our rental car in Auckland and made the two hour drive south to Matamata, where Hobbiton is located.    My husband had lots of practice driving on the right side of the road during the summer when we went to the U.K., so he was pretty comfortable doing it once again. It is something to think about when you travel here, driving and even riding on the other side is definitely something to get used to.

I totally felt like a kid on Christmas morning as we approached Hobbiton. This place is at the top of my list when it comes to excitement over seeing something touristy. I couldn’t wait to get inside. Word of warning, you must pre-book your tour. Don’t expect to be able to show-up and get a ticket. For your tour, you hop on a small bus and make the five minute drive to the actual set.

The entire area is gorgeous, with rolling green hills as far as the eye can see. Our tour guide was great, he filled us in on all sorts of interesting facts and stories. When we entered the set, it was like being transported back in time to a land of fairy tales. It is just beautiful and everything has been replicated in the most amazing way, all the way down to the tiniest detail.

We got a clear perspective of just how small everything is as we made our way from one hobbit hole to the next. I felt giddy, that is the best way to describe it. You’ll get to see multiple gardens, lots of hobbit holes, the celebration tree and of course The Green Dragon Inn. We sat down and enjoyed a mug of ale and cider inside the inn and just soaked up the fun, laid back atmosphere.

This is a place that I could have happily spent an entire day exploring every nook and cranny, but unfortunately that isn’t an option. There are several tours to pick from, including ones that provide a meal or even a banquet at night. All around, this was one of my favorite spots of all time.

It is definitely a touristy spot but the tours are kept to a small number and it isn’t crowded once you get on set. I watched the first movie before we came to refresh my memory and it was so cool seeing all the places featured in the movies. For anyone who loves The Lord of The Rings movies, this is an absolute must, truly unforgettable. 

Continuing south

From Matamata we continued south and made the short one hour drive to Rotorua. Rotorua would act as our home base for the next five days while we wrapped up our exploration of the north island. The city itself is quite small and lies on the south end of Lake Rotorua.

We quickly learned what this area is known for, we actually smelled it as we drove into town. Rotorua is famous for its plentiful hot springs. The sulfur smell permeated the place. It didn’t bother me but my husband was not a fan.   

Our first full day there was Christmas Day. We explored the lake, the rose garden and the grounds and exterior of the museum. Unfortunately the museum was closed due to damage from an earthquake. With limited choices for food due to the holiday, we went worldly with Mexican for lunch and Thai for dinner.    

glow worm & aranui caves

We had a full day of adventure exploring the Waitomo Glow Worm Cave and the Aranui Cave. The limestone formations that created these caves began forming 30 million years ago when this area was still under water. This was a two hour drive west of Rotorua. The glow worms were unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Their turquoise light is pretty magical and the boat ride through the cave was very serene. Knowing that those are living creatures emanating that light is quite special and unusual. 

I’ve had the pleasure of traversing quite a few caves around the world, and I must say that I found the Aranui Cave quite spectacular. The stalactites and stalagmites were so plentiful and they came close to meeting in so many points that it was a phenomenal example of complex geology. Though a bit of a drive to and from, I would recommend this as a full day outing. It was great getting out of the city atmosphere and seeing so many amazing things in nature. Make sure to bring a jacket to wear in the caves, both were quite chilly.

MaOri culture & the redwoods

There are many options when it comes to experiencing the Maori Culture. We spent an evening doing just that at the Tamaki Maori Experience. A shuttle picked us up at our hotel and drove us a little ways out of town to the Tamaki Maori Village.

We spent a couple hours being immersed in cultural customs, song and dance then enjoyed a traditional hangi feast.  I especially enjoyed the singing and dancing portion of the evening. I was very excited to see them perform the haka, a traditional warrior dance that involves a lot of slapping, stomping, evil looking faces and tongues sticking out. Even though they sang in Maori, I found their songs extremely moving and found myself tearing up on more than one occasion. It was a really special experience.   

Another fun outing was a morning spent at the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest. This is an interconnected canopy system that lets you walk above the forest floor while enjoying the massive beauty of the redwoods. It was very peaceful and we enjoyed an additional hike after we explored the canopy system. This forest is right within Rotorua so getting there is a breeze.

little bit of a dream house

For our last couple of nights on the north island we rented an entire house just for the two of us. Remarkably we happened upon it on hotels.com. We thought for sure when we got there that the house wouldn’t be nearly as amazing as it appeared in the photos. Thank goodness we were wrong. The house was exquisite. It sat atop a little hill overlooking all of Rotorua, and its massive deck offered us spectacular views day and night. 

After spending the previous six nights in hotels, it felt great to be able to spread out and even cook some of our  own meals. Honestly, we didn’t leave the house much for those couple of days. It was just too nice and we felt a little like royalty staying there. It was the perfect way to wrap up our time on the north island and get ready for more adventures as we headed down to the south island.

Queenstown

We took a short flight from Rotorua (easily the smallest airport I’ve ever been in) to Wellington, then on to Queenstown, on the north island. From there we picked up our rental car and headed southwest to Te Anau. On our way to Australia, we came back and flew out of Queenstown.

A friend recommended grabbing lunch at The Cow. It didn’t disappoint with delicious Italian cuisine and a very fun, rustic atmosphere. Queenstown looked like a cool spot, if we’d had more time we probably would have spent a couple days there.

gateway to the wilderness

Te Anau would be our base for four days and it put us in a great location at the entrance to Fiordland National Park. The north island was all about culture and city sights, where the south island is all about nature. The south island is mountainous with beautiful fiords, and endless views of water.

We came to really enjoy the way Kiwi’s (New Zealander’s) spoke. My favorite saying was, “Took a wee tramp.” That means took a short hike. On our first full day in Te Anau we went on a beautiful tramp (hike) to Rainbow’s Reach. Some scenes from Lord of The Rings were filmed in this stunning wilderness.

In this single hike we saw mountains, cliffs, rivers, lakes and woods that seemed more like a rain forest. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a 3-4 hour hike. The trail head was a short ten minute drive from Te Anau.

happy new year!!!

It’s always interesting to see how people celebrate the new year around the world. We started the evenings festivities by enjoying a stunning sunset from our balcony that overlooked Lake Te Anau. Once it got dark, we headed to a park in the center of town. There they had a massive bonfire with a DJ spinning all sorts of dance music. There were food trucks and they rounded out the evening with fireworks set off from a barge in the center of the lake. It was a great way to ring in a brand new year and look forward to what lay ahead.