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Firstly, I’m sorry that part 2 of our travels has taken a while to emerge! But it is finally here! An account of North Island antics.

Wellington

Arriving in a city was a bit of a shock to the system. Suddenly there were people…lots of people! We stayed in an Air b’n’b and it was pretty amazing. It was a beautiful house in a ‘trendy’ area off Tinakori Street. We settled in and went out down the main street for dinner. We ended up in a French bistro and had the most delicious steak and the best dessert of the trip: dark chocolate mousse and banana icecream. Dessert of kings.

The next day Craig, Sean and I set off on our Lord of the Rings day. It was a little bizarre but I loved it! Basically we drove around the city, stopping at scenes where Ted and Kate (the guides) would show us photos of the scene and point out where it was. Obviously there wasn’t anything left there so we kind of had to put two and two together. Kate was a mega, obsessed fan so she was very knowledgeable and we were treated to many funny stories along the way. The other funny thing was that we reenacted several of the scenes with the group, for example the scene where the hobbits had fallen down the hill in a pile while they were running away from the farmer at the beginning of Frodo’s adventure. Seany was a horse at one point, with a Belgian dude riding him. It was great.

The tour ended in the Weta Studios which was amazing. We got to find out how they made props etc which was very interesting. We drove back past Peter Jackson’s studios and he was actually there as his Tesla was parked out front! Wow!! That evening Craig and I sampled a bit of Wellington’s night life. It had such a good vibe, we both really liked it. It didn’t seem too big for its boots and despite it being a big city, it still felt welcoming and homey. It’s definitely a place worth visiting.

The next morning we left to go to Napier. My parents and Sean went a seriously long way round so Craig and I checked out the Te Papa museum before we left. I’d recommend it to anyone…a really good museum. They had a Gallopoli war exhibition on, which was very emotional. It just so happened to be Remembrance Sunday and 11am when Craig and I laid down our poppies in respect and remembrance. It was extremely poignant.

The drive onwards to Napier was rather uneventful. The highlight was a $1 giant cookie.

Napier

After waiting 2 hours for the others to arrive, we went out for dinner at a fish’n’chips restaurant. The food was amazing and they even had mushy peas!! I did almost die on a grape stuck down my throat, but no-one was bothered.

The next morning was for exploring Napier and we loved the 20s style of basically everything! We found a great bookshop where I bought my favourite book yet: a big children’s book about the history of New Zealand. The pier and beach front were just beautiful. We stuffed ourselves with bagels and then made our way to Taupo, stopping off at another scenic waterfall on the way.

Lake Taupo

We settled into our nice motel accommodation before heading out to the docks and going on a 2 hour cruise on the lake, with pizza and beverages. The weather was warm with clear blue skies, so the cruise was very relaxing! We went to see some carvings in the rock face and we also saw Mount Doom.

There were some kids who were feeding ducks some of the pizza. What a waste. Poor Phoebe, who was serving us, was run off her feet trying to keep up with drink demands. I think we made the most of it! After, we went to Maccas for dinner. But this wasn’t just any old Maccas. It is in the world’s top 10 coolest Maccas. It had a plane behind it where you could sit and eat! Unfortunately this part was closed in the evenings, but we still stayed and enjoyed our burgers. Amazingly, we got table service…that’s right. Table service in a McDonalds. It was great. Craig and I decided to explore the town, however we found out that there was nothing really there. So we went back and chilled. I read my new book and it really is stunning! That night I had the best sleep of the whole trip.

Rotorua

We started our journey towards this smelly place the next morning. We first stopped off at Huka Falls. The colours of the water were beautiful and we learnt that there is enough water going over the 9m drop to fill up 5 Olympic size pools every minute.

Sean also found a cool cache, disguised as a tree trunk. We also found one which was bungee jump themed. Caching is fun! We drove on to some sulphur pits. It was a bit smelly. We had to get a boat over to them. It was a 2 km walk but very exhausting, especially in the hot sun. We stayed a little way out of Rotorua in the holiday park, so drove in for dinner at a Mexican place. Amazing food as per usual. After dinner Sean, Craig and I went to visit the Redwood wood and do a treetop walk at night. I liked the concept of this, and the swing bridges were fun, however you couldn’t really see the trees in the dark! There were some cool fairy lights and lanterns though. We walked around it twice to make the most of it.

The next day we went to a Maori village to see some more geysers. We waited a rather long time for the big one and we weren’t disappointed. It was huge! It also went on for ages.

Back at our accommodation, we had decided to split up and Craig and I were planning on going kayaking in the lake where we were staying. However, these plans were quashed when we were informed that they only hired kayaks out in the summer. What a bummer as it definitely was summer weather and was only a few days away from the *official* summer date. So Craig and I joined in with the others and went to a park in town where there were lots of sulphur vents and mud pools in the grounds. It was very stinky. And at times we couldn’t see much from the steam coming from the pools. But interesting it really was! I’m not sure I’d want to live around there though, with the permanent eggy smell.

In the evening we had an amazing time at Hell’s Gate hot pools and mud baths. The mud was so gross but cool at the same time and the hot pools were very warm. I’d forgotten a part of my swimming costume, so had to rent one, which made me look really cool. We stayed in there for almost three hours, way longer than anyone else. I think we might have discovered why afterwards. We reeked! I think it gave the sulphur even more time to penetrate our skin and pores, even deeper.

The next morning was an early start as Sean, Craig and I went to HOBBITON!! I was so excited!! The set was amazing!! Loved the hobbit holes, the pub, the quirky little details like the *plum* trees. The only part I didn’t like, was the guide. But he couldn’t dash my Hobbit dreams. What a cool place. Matamata was funny because it had so many LOTR and Hobbit references around. The i-Site was hobbit themed. The cafe where we ate was Hobbit themed. The food itself was Hobbit themed! I love it!

We then drove on to our final destination of the trip: Auckland.

Auckland

We stayed in another amazing Air b’n’b in another cool area of the city, Parnell. That night we ended up walking a very long way for icecream in Britomart. It was rather posh. We got an Uber back. The next morning we had our last family breakfast together, so we went out for the occasion. My mum and I both had monster ‘pancakes’. Neither of us could finish it, but my mum did considerably better than me! After caching, lunch, sightseeing, a bit of shopping and finally packing, we drove to the airport for an emotional farewell. However, I felt very sorry for the people sitting close to my family on the first 17 hour plane journey; the eggy smell was still very fresh!

Craig and I spent the evening chilling together at the house and then explored parts of the city a bit more the next day. We enjoyed the war museum, especially the volcano parts and the Wildlife Photography of the Year exhibit. It felt like we were back at the Natural History Museum! Then it was time to fly home to QT.

I have to say it was the best trip I’ve been on with my family. Every day was truly amazing and my parents really made sure we had the best experiences in the time we had. We were really spoiled. I feel so lucky to have been able to see my family on the other side of the world and show off this incredible country.

To my mum, dad and Seany – thank you ❤