New Zealand Trip

My girlfriend and I recently came back from a 2-week trip to New Zealand. And while I did actually keep a daily journal (much like my past travel journals from Albuquerque and Atlanta) I am going to freestyle it here.

Planning

We planned this trip for months in advance, trying to book all the hotels, rental car, and events that we wanted to see. We got our flight tickets back in January! Which was good timing, since the prices of fuel skyrocketed right after we got our tickets due to bad politics. We were going to travel with another couple, which unfortunately it didn't work out.

Flights

We took Fiji airways from SFO through NAN (Nadi, Fiji) to AKL (Auckland, New Zealand.) The first flight was over 10 hours long! I got a bit of sleep and watched The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Despite leaving SFO on a Friday, we didn't land in Auckland until Sunday, since we crossed the international date line.

Auckland

Our first hotel was really nice! We were on the 15th floor, had good views of the city skyline, the Sky Tower (kind of like the Space Needle in Seattle), and a hearty breakfast was included. We walked through the Auckland Domain and saw the Winter Gardens and spent a very long time at the War Museum. Another day, we took the ferry across Hauraki Gulf to Waiheke Island, also known as the island of wine. We walked to Mudbrick Vineyards for a nice (but expensive) lunch and wine tasting.

Taranaki

After 3 days in Auckland, we picked up our rental car and drove from Auckland to New Plymouth. We stopped along the way in Hamilton to see the famous Hamilton Gardens. Driving was a little scary since I am not used to driving on the left side of the road. Honestly, I got used to that pretty quick. The part I kept messing up was using my windshield wiper instead of my blinkers.

In New Plymouth, we rented bikes from our hotel and biked along the coastal walkway, eventually making it to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge. There were so many cute sheep along the way. We also saw the Govett-Brewster art gallery, where all the art pieces had the theme of "energy." Another day, we did an 8-mile hike at Mt. Taranaki, seeing Dawson Falls, Wilkes Pools, the Stratford Plateau, and the Swingbridge. We got back just in time for heavy rain to roll in.

Rotorua

On the way to Rotorua, we stopped for lunch and shopping in Taupo, which looked like a very nice place to be. We also saw Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon, a geothermally-active landscape.

In Rotorua, we went to Skyline to do some downhill luge-riding and zip-lining. It was an exciting theme park that you have to take a gondola ride to get to, and that was the first time I ever tried zip-lining! We also went to Sulphur Point which smelled awful. Speaking of smelly, we went to see the impressive Lady Knox geyser and Wai-O-Tapu "thermal wonderland" which also smelled like sulphur and the steaming bright green, red, and blue lakes looked like toxic waste. To relax after that, we went to Waikite Hot Pools, where we could dip in various pools ranging from 30-41C that were naturally heated from geothermal steam.

Lastly, the highlight of this part of the trip was seeing Hobbiton, literally where many of the outdoor scenes were filmed in The Hobbit trilogy. It was so cool, and we got to go inside a fully-furnished hobbit hole! After the tour, we got drinks and a buffet at the Green Dragon Inn.

Auckland Part 2

Finally I could return the rental car, thankfully without a scratch. Back in Auckland, we went to the zoo at my request. I really wanted to see kiwis, which are nocturnal ground-dwelling birds. We entered a dark chamber with 2 kiwi enclosures but neither of us could see anything. A ranger left out some food for them to encourage them to come out of hiding. After over an hour of waiting, it paid off since I got to see one of the kiwis waddle around and hunt for its food. The next day, we went up 328 meters to the Sky Tower for excellent views of the city and waterfront. Lastly, we did a lot of gift shopping.

Fiji

On my birthday, we flew back from Auckland and had a 12-hour layover in Fiji. We planned to leave the airport and check in at a hotel to relax. We were required to pick up our bags and go through biosecurity. The Fiji security guards stopped us to ask what was in our bags. It was some honey we picked up in New Zealand! They threatened to fine us over $400, but eventually just confiscated the honey to "destroy it." Some Fiji hospitality.

We did make it to the hotel and swam in the pool, which had a waterslide, and ate lunch and dinner there. We also walked to Nadi, which wasn't all that nice. Luckily we didn't have any more issues getting through security at the airport, but our flight home was delayed almost an hour.