New Zealand - February 2020 BC- (Before Corona)

Rod and Robyn went to New Zealand on a 30th anniversary trip in the nick of time--right before Cornona shut everything down.

Day 1 Auckland

Muriwai Beach:  A black sand beach. The water was cold but it was a gorgeous sunny say and wonderful to lie on the beach in February!

The Sky Tower in Auckland

Giapo:  Artisan ice cream place where eating ice cream is an out of body experience.

Day 2 Rotorua

Whakarewarewa:  We visited this authentic living Maori village where they use geothermal resources to cook, bathe and heat their homes. Our tour guide lives in the village with her family of about 70 people.

 The children of the village dive for money that the tourists throw into the water.  The people of the village cook their food in the thermal pots and bathe in the water.

The geyser gave us a good show. 

 And so did these guys.

The Redwoods Whakarewarewa Forest: We walked among the redwoods on 28 suspension bridges.

Day 3 Hobbiton and Waimea Caves

Rod:  I'm so excited for this tour!  I can't believe were going to Hobbiton.
Robyn:  You know this isn't real, right?  It's important to me that you know this isn't real.

Tour guide:  If you can believe this, about 40% of the people who tour Hobbiton have never seen the Lord of the Rings movies or read the books.
Robyn:  How is that possible?

Samwise Gamgee's house

Bag End

Bilbo's Party Tree

           

Having some butter beer at theThe Green Frog Tavern

Waimea  Caves: We did a cave tour in Waimea.  We put on wet suits, grabbed tubes and went down into the dark caves.  There we scrambled over rocks, jumped backward off of ledges, floated in the water and gazed in awe at the glow worms stuck to the ceiling and sides of the cave--they looked like stars on a dark night.  We got soaked. It was surreal but amazing.  

Days 4 & 5 Queenstown

Queenstown: We flew to the Queenstown on the south island and stayed with a delightful host and hostess. We had a wonderful time getting to know their family.

We hiked Queenstown Hill which was not the little hill we expected.

We took a gondola ride and rode the skyline luge several times. 

The view was amazing.

We ate ginormous burgers at the famous Fergburger.  It was worth the wait.

 We hiked around and skipped rocks at a beautiful lake on the outskirts of Queenstown.

Day 6 Mount Cook

Hooker Valley Track:  We hiked the Hooker Valley Track.  It led to a glacier lake with ice floats.  It was magnificent!

 

Day 7 Twizel and Christchurch

Twizel:  We went on a Lord of the Rings tour with Dawn as our tour guide.  We visited the place they filmed the Battle of Pelennor Fields in Return of the King.  They also filmed part of the movie Mulan there too.

The drive to Christchurch was amazing. We drove through some gorgeous scenery.

Christchurch: We walked to the center of town to see the sights and get a bite to eat.

Day 8 Home

We flew home the next day. It was a VERY LONG day.  Christchurch to Auckland.  Auckland to San Francisco. San Francisco to Los Angeles. Los Angeles to Salt Lake City.  One of our best trips ever!!