New Zealand

After a month in Australia, we headed to New Zealand for a month. These countries are so far away, we had to make the visit worth it! We planned to visit both the North and South Island. We had about a week and a half before my brother showed up for his epic adventure so we rented a campervan and decided to check out parts of the North Island. When we first arrived into Auckland, we were picked up by the rental company and taken to get our home on wheels for the next 11 nights. After all the paperwork and demonstrations of how things work, it was early evening and we were pooped from traveling so we asked the rep, Scotty, if there was a cheap or free place close by for us to park and sleep. After calling a few places that were way too expensive he told us about a public park we could stay at for free for the night. We drove over to the park to check it out, there was plenty of parking and a bathroom, it was good enough for our first night. We made up the bed, changed into our jammies and snuggled into bed. After some tossing and turning and trying to get acclimated to our new home we drifted off to sleep. We were startled awake in the middle of the night by a loud thud. Did someone just run into our van?! Adrenaline pumping, we jumped up and looked out the window (very happy at this point that we had paid for the extra insurance on the van). Luckily, there was no car, only a group of juvenile delinquents who thought it was hilarious to hit the van and scare the heck out of the sleeping tourists. My adrenaline was still pumping, I was irritated- stupid kids, but Dan found the whole thing very amusing. Must be a guy thing…. Anyways, after a while we were able to get back to sleep, that was until 7:30am when there was a knock on the van door. What now!? We open the sliding door next to our bed and were greeted by a very nice, young police officer!! Not sure what was happening, afraid we were going to jail- at least we are in New Zealand and not a scary third world country. We greeted the nice officer and asked what the problem was? She said there were some complaints about suspicious activity in the park last night and she was wondering if we had seen anything. Phew! "No, ma'am, besides the ornery kiddos that hit the van to scare us last night, we didn't see anything." She collected our information, 'just in case' and left. Wow, heart racing again. Let's get out of this park!! Lol we googled and found a coffee shop nearby so we could sit down, catch our breath, and search for a new destination for a few nights. Now, you might be thinking, why would you not have figured this all out before you arrived in New Zealand? Well, the rental company claimed they offered some sort of membership card that gets you really cheap or free places to camp so we waited to see what great deals they had, spoiler alert- it was none! Ugh. Oh well, we rolled with it and found a couple of great spots. 

We stumbled upon a cute little town called Paparoa and decided to stay for a couple days. We walked into town and chatted with the lovely lady who ran a coffee and art shop. We had a cup of coffee and tried one of her pastries. As we were hanging out, enjoying our coffee we noticed a park with a walking path across the road. We asked the campground host about the walking path and found out it's called the Paparoa Walkway or Bushwalk as the locals call it; the path takes you up to an ancient Maori settlement where you can still see where they had dug out pits to store food and their defensive trenches. Before and after walking the trail you have to scrub your shoes and spray them with a cleaning solution to help prevent kauri die back (basically a disease that kills the trees). It was a neat experience and really cool that this ancient settlement is still standing. 

On our way to our next destination, we had to stop back at the rental company. The fridge wasn't working, we had a couple other minor issues, and we had a stowaway which we named Jerry. We would hear him scurrying across the compartment above our heads when we laid down to sleep. It was entertaining but we were hoping he wouldn't run across our faces in the middle of the night. The rental company folks switched out the van and gave us a new one so we would have a working fridge. It was much newer and nicer so we were definitely okay with the switch. We said bye to Jerry and headed back out on the road. 

We stopped for a couple of nights in Hamilton to catch up with a couple of friends from Nebraska who were also visiting New Zealand!! We met up with Joanne and her husband, John, for dinner at a lively Pub. Dan has fallen in love with pub food and is always up for bangers and mash! It was wonderful catching up with these two! Hearing stories about how things are going back home with family, friends, things around town, the weather, their itinerary for the remainder of their trip. We exchanged suggestions for things we had already done and places we had heard about. It was a wonderful evening, we really enjoyed catching up with friends from back home! 

Our favorite camping spot was along the water at Lake Taupo. Wow! Waking up in the morning to that view was unbelievable. We had birds, ducks, and swans that frequently stopped by. It was nice and calming to watch them waddle around and eat the little flower blooms. We had a wonderful, relaxing time hanging out by the lake. The view, the weather, the little duckies, it was all a wonderful experience. 

Grant arrived!! Now the real fun can begin! We swung by our hostel to drop off Grant's bags and then headed over to Waiheke Island for a fun filled day of ziplining and a wine tour. We thought it would be best to keep Grant busy all day so he could fight jet lag. We took a ferry over to Waiheke Island and were met by a super, awesome, nice driver that took us to the ziplining company. Apparently, the other half of our tour group for the morning never showed up, so it was just the three of us on our own private zipline tour. How did we get so lucky?! After a short training and getting fitted for the safety gear, we headed up to the first zipline. The views were amazing and the staff were super friendly and knowledgeable. They shared stories and experiences, facts about the land and animals, and even pointed out edible plants- we all took a bite of a leaf our guide pulled off the tree. Umm… eww. Hopefully we never get stranded out in the middle of nowhere and need to survive on leaves. Now, this next part was totally my fault. Our guides kept reminding us to lean back while on the zipline. I did great until the last, longest, fastest zipline. I was coming in hot and with my short, little t-rex arms, I was not leaning back far enough. When I got to the end and my line smashed into the spring stopper, my face also smashed into my line lol don't worry, the guys got it on video. Luckily, nothing was broken and I was okay. After our third line, we hiked for about 30 minutes back to the top. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the trees, plants, and animals we saw/heard along the way. It was a great experience, especially for Grant's first time! What amazing views!

Next, our wine tour adventure! We went to three different wineries to sample wines, had lunch at one, and visited an olive farm to learn how olive oil is made (fascinating). The first winery we stopped at wasn't really anything special, they were mainly trying to sell memberships to get good deals on a ton of bottles of wine. The second stop was amazing! They had basically a flight of wines with tapas to go with each glass. We all sat down and they walked us through each wine, the fruits and other ingredients that went into making it, why the tapas were good with the specific wine. They had a great set up and were very friendly. We all loved the vibe of this small winery (and it had my favorite wine from all the tastings). The third and final winery we went to was Mudbrick Vineyard. Wow! It is a high end fancy place with a helipad! The views from their property are just incredible. You can see 360° around you, the ocean, the islands, and the countryside. It took my breath away! I could have stayed up there all day. Although, the second winery had my favourite wine, the views at the third vineyard were by far the best part about this day.

The inspiration behind our trip to New Zealand is probably that of many others-- the landscape from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films. So of course, we definitely had to hit up some of the touristy stops surrounding Hobbit and LOTR. Our first stop was the Hairy Feet Farm. This farm was a film location for one of the Hobbit movies. We watched a short film on how their property was transformed into a set and hear stories about what it was like to witness the process from beginning to end and see the actors in their costumes. I had no idea so much went into making a movie. Again, my mind was blown! 

Probably the biggest and most well known tourist destination in New Zealand is Hobbiton! The Hobbiton Movie Set Tour takes you to the Shire, the home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, where you get to see 50ish (I believe) hobbit holes/houses. We walked through the shire seeing Bilbo's house, Sam's house, the party tree, the pond and much more. We also had a drink at the Green Dragon and a wonderful lunch buffet served in the Party Marquee. It was a little tight in this big open room, but the food was absolutely amazing!! 

We visited the Waitomo glow worm cave: we walked through the cave and learned about the glow worms and their life cycle, took a boat ride though a pitch black cave with little glow worms all over the ceiling, and then a short nature hike back to the building. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures of the glow worms so you'll just have to take our word for it on how neat it was :) Next, we went to a Maori Haka which included a Hangi dinner where the food is cooked using heated rocks in an underground pit oven called an umu. It was a very neat experience and the food was okay. 

We ended our tour of the north island in Wellington. We visited the Weta Cave Workshop for a tour and inside look into film effects, movie props, weapons, and more. We couldn't take photos in several of the rooms due to copyright laws but it was really interesting! We held several weapons and Dan and Grant even tried on a helmet like the dwarves wore in the Hobbit. It was really interesting seeing the other side of the films and learning about the process to make all these different props. 

From Wellington, we took a neat ferry ride to Picton unfortunately, due to the rainy, windy weather, we were unable to see any of the cool sights so we just hung out and enjoyed the yummy food and coffee/tea. Once in Picton, we hopped aboard the Coastal Pacific Train for a scenic train ride to Christchurch. Luckily, even though the weather was still a little over cast, we had great seats around a table and could see the amazing views all the way to Christchurch. We saw rolling hills, tons of sheep and cows, adorable towns/villages, and the ocean from time to time.

We rented a car in Christchurch and begun our tour of the south island. We drove several windy roads, through hills and mountains all with the most amazing views. Since we had lots of time we were able to pull over and take pictures and enjoy the sites, sounds, and breath in the fresh air. We stopped at a couple of really cool spots- Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki which had crystal clear, blue water and snow capped mountains with the prettiest blue skies. Absolutely stunning, postcard worthy views.

We stopped in Queenstown for a couple days and took the Gondola up the mountain and then rode luges down a track several times! Again, I'm not sure how I can still be surprised, but the views were absolutely incredible! 

Then, on to what was my absolute favorite adventure in New Zealand. We took a small boat up the river, then a bus out to the middle of nowhere and finally boarded a large boat or a small ship?? Not sure what the classification is here. We took an overnight cruise to Doubtful Sound! The ship wasn't completely full so we had a room to ourselves. Now I use the term 'room' loosely but it was still pretty awesome. It was about the size of a closet with two bunk beds, one on each side with only a couple feet walkway between the two and a curtain you could close to block some of the light. But, it was our closet, just the three of us :) we went up on the main deck and had a hot beverage. They had unlimited tea, coffee, cappuccinos, hot cocoa, etc. Which was really nice as it was cold and rainy the whole time. However, the good part about it raining the whole time- thousands of waterfalls! Usually there are only a few, but we literally saw hundreds. Everywhere you looked you could see a small waterfall flowing off the rocks. It was definitely worth the cold and rain for those views.

We had the option to either taking a small boat ride, kayaking, or staying on the ship during the afternoon adventure time. Grant and Dan opted for the kayaks and I opted for a boat ride in the rain. It was cold and wet but educational and fun. We saw a penguin up close, putted around the water, checking out waterfalls and learning about the rock formations. After the outing, everyone was offered the chance to jump off the ship into the water and go swimming. There were only four people crazy enough to jump into the 5°C /41°F water and yes, you guessed it- Dan and Grant were two of those people!! Holy cow! No thank you. They said it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and they just couldn't pass it up. Good for them, glad they had fun! After swimming, the guys got changed, and yes all four were guys- no ladies were crazy enough to jump into the freezing cold water. The captain stopped the ship by these large rocks in the middle of the water, covered with sea lions! It was neat to see so much wildlife in their habitat. After watching the sea lions, we sat down for a yummy buffet dinner. It was very delicious, lots of different options including a carving station.

The next day we woke up, had a yummy breakfast, and began the journey back to where it started. We were fortunate enough to even see some dolphins!! It was incredible! There was a group of three cheeky dolphins that were jumping and swimming along with the ship, there were also a ton of other dolphins around too,  but these three were right next to where we were standing!!! It was such a cool experience, seeing them out in the wild, up close- they were so beautiful and what big personalities they had! The whole experience, from beginning to end, on the overnight cruise was absolutely amazing! We all had a fantastic time!! 

After driving all over the north and south islands, approximately 2,100+ miles, I'd say Dan is officially comfortable with driving on the wrong side of the road. We've gotten so used to looking the other direction when we cross the road, I'm afraid we will look the wrong way when we get to other countries who drive on the right side of the road!

The end is nigh… after our amazing cruise through the doubtful sound we headed back up to Christchurch and then up to Auckland, this chapter of our adventure was coming to an end. We celebrated our last night in New Zealand with dinner at the Auckland Sky Tower, Orbit 360° dining. And you guessed it- while we had dinner, we spun a full 360° and had a nice last look at the city. It was very high up!

We said goodbye to Grant as we parted ways at the airport- he headed to his gate and we headed to ours, an hour later our flight took off to Japan. Next up- our adventures in Asia!