I’ve been dreading writing this because I have so much to say and I know it’s going to end up as 30+ unorganized pages and take me a year to write.

Let’s start with some general NZ travel facts
* $1 NZD = $0.56 USD, so $100 NZD is $55.98. We got in a little trouble shopping because mentally we imagined everything being half off. Oh, also we landed Black Friday which apparently is internationally recognized.
* We had to apply for a travel visa to visit. The New Zealand Immigration had us apply for an application for a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority. I think the prices just changed before our trip. My parents paid like $30 and I paid $120 (because I applied after the update) for the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy.
*This one is for college students especially – most of the workers we met there with the popular 3-month Working Visas. I SO WISH I DID THIS BEFORE JOINING CORPORATE AMERICA. If you’re between 18 and 30 (or 35 for certain countries), you could be eligible for New Zealand’s Working Holiday visa. You can do anything from coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, constructions, and farms.
* Plan in advance! We were supposed to go 2023, but rental cars sold out so we rescheduled to 2024.
* Everything is backwards, American winters are New Zealand Summers. Cars drive on the left and the wheel is on the right. We constantly mixed up the turning signal and the windshield wiper. Dates are written DD/MM/YYYY. All the fun European colony stuff.

Food Tips
* Love a cafe for breakfast and lunch. Hours were confusing for us. The cafes were open early mornings and closed at 4pm most of the time. HOWEVER, the kitchens would close at 2pm which messed up our road trip munchie schedule. Coffee orders seemed pretty standard. I mostly got Spicy Chai Lattes so I can’t speak for the actual coffee lol. Highly recommend the meat pies! Can’t go wrong with those.
* There are tons of international food options! Asian fusion is everywhere. Found some solid Italian places. Even 1 good American place in Wellington. Traditional New Zealand food is not crazy – English/British, Pacific Island Seafood, Lamb barbeque
* In America, the waiter brings the check. In Italy, you have to ask for the check. In New Zealand, you have to go up to the till, tell them what table you sat at, and what you ordered so they can find your bill and ring you up. It didn’t seem like the best system.

Wine Tips
* I wish we had more time for wine tours, but couldn’t do everything. Basically, I had A LOT less Sauvignon Blanc than I was expecting.
* The North Island and Waiheke Island (which I will go into more below) is generally known for the drier reds like Cabernet blends, Syrah, elegant Chardonnay, Viognier and Pinot Gris wines.
* Further south in the Nelson and Marlborough area is the famous Sauvignon Blanc region. Unfortunately, I learned the production of this varietal is super commercialized. We ended up mostly drinking Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris.
*The South Island and Otago region is famous of world renown Pinot Noir, but they also have Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris like the rest of New Zealand.

Famous Souvenirs
* Manuka Honey – The word mānuka is the Māori name of the tree indigenous to New Zealand and some parts of coastal Australia. One of the major antibacterial components of Manuka honey is a compound called methylglyoxal (MGO). MGO comes from the conversion of another compound in Manuka honey known as dihydroxyacetone (DHA), a high concentration of which is found in the nectar of Manuka flowers. The higher the concentration of MGO, the stronger the antibacterial effect. To be considered potent enough to be therapeutic, Manuka honey needs a minimum rating of UMF™ 10+. However, doctors and researchers aren’t sure if this rating means anything from a medical standpoint
* Pounamu – Picture the heart of Te Fiti from Moana 😉 The Māori word pounamu is derived from namu, an archaic word that describes blue-green cognate with Tahitian ninamu. Pounamu is a term for several types of hard and durable stone found in the South Island of New Zealand. They are highly valued in New Zealand, and carvings made from pounamu play an important role in Māori culture.
* Pāua – is the Māori name given to four New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks (read abalone). Pāua are recognized taonga, or treasure, esteemed both as kaimoana (seafood) and as a valued resource for traditional and contemporary arts and crafts.
* Wool and Possum merino knitwear – Possum wool is arguably New Zealand’s national fiber. It is warm, light, phenomenally soft, and an absolutely luscious yarn to work with. Best of all, when you knit with possum wool you’re helping to control a pest that has wreaked havoc on New Zealand’s native life. Sheep farming has been a cornerstone of the economy since the 1850s, with wool accounting for a significant portion of the country’s exports for decades. New Zealand has approximately 25 million sheep, and the flock produces 136,000 tons of wool and 350,000 tons of meat per year.

Day 1 – November 29ish (Black Friday)
We had Wednesday 4:30pm flight EWR to SFO – 6 hours – Immediately followed by 10pm flight SFO to AUK – 13.5 hours.
Honestly, I expected the 19-20 hour flight to be worse than it was. We slept a majority of the flight despite being in economy. Because of the time change, we left Wednesday night and landed Friday morning, so we didn’t actually have November 28th. YAY TIME TRAVEL! We actually arrived a day earlier than planned because standby life – so that meant an extra day in Auckland. We planned to take it slow and adjust to the jetlag. Italy kicks my butt every time, but New Zealand wasn’t that bad. We were able to check in early to our hotel to nap and freshen up. I also used this time to google ‘Things to do in Auckland’ lol. We had a travel agent that planned the overall outline, but I didn’t research the little stuff until day before or day of. The weather was sunny so we went to the Sky Tower before the rainy weekend hit. Basically the same as Space Needle or CN Tower, it offered 360 views of the city with the optional bungee jumping or sky walk. The tower is 1,076 ft tall making it the second tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere and 28th tallest in the world. There was also a bar and cafe at the top. We got the last table at the Sky Bar and had a wonderful time. Definitely make reservations ahead of time if you’re a planner and don’t wing it on vacation. The Sky Tower is part of SkyCity which is a casino, theater, restaurants and bars. We still had time to kill before our dinner reservation so we took an Uber to Mount Eden for a little park walk around a volcanic crater. Be careful not to confuse Mount Eden the town with the mountain Maungawhau. It was a easy walk with beautiful views of the city skyline. We could also see the rugby stadium for any All Blacks rugby fans. Maungawhau is a Māori-language name meaning ‘mountain of the whau tree’. The name “Mount Eden” was chosen by the Governor, to honor George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland. After the hike, we took an Uber back to Viaduct Harbor for our dinner reservation at Baduzzi – which turned out to be an authentic Italian/Sicilian experience. Viaduct Harbor in general is the nightlife spot with a majority of the restaurants and bars on the waterfront.

Day 2 – November 30
It started with sleeping in and going to Odette’s for brunch. We were very excited to find crepes and Chai lattes on the menu. It was raining all day, but we decided to go to the Auckland Zoo to see the local wildlife like kiwis, wetas, and tuartaras. The zoo is about 40 acres and has been open since 1922. They split the zoo into tracks – Africa, Australia, South East Asia, South America, and Te Wao Nui/Aotearoa. We started in the Aotearoa section of the zoo for the 12:30pm Kiwi feeding and 1pm Wild Work Center demo. I basically came to to zoo for kiwis and tuartaras, and the demonstrations did not disappoint! Kiwis are flightless birds about the size of a chicken. Nothing super exciting, but an important animal to the culture of New Zealand being one of the few indigenous species. It is also speculated to be related to the moas, another flightless bird, that is now extinct. Tuataras have become part of pop culture thanks to John Green. It is an endangered species of lizard that is the closest thing we have to a living dinosaur. Wetas are a gross looking insect, but I’m a fan of Weta Workshop so same thing? After the demonstrations, we hit the Australian Bush Track section of the zoo with Tasmanian Devils. Then we speed ran the traditional animals that we enjoy like monkeys. After the zoo, we headed back to the city centre for Giapo Ice Cream. We tasted several flavors and picked out our special chocolate cone design – I got spectacles. Our favorite flavor here and the rest of the of the trip was Hokey Pokey – a popular ice cream flavor featuring vanilla ice cream with crunchy honeycomb toffee pieces. We hit the shops on Queen St on the way back to the hotel for souvenirs and essentials we need for the trip. Even picked out some takeout dumplings for lazy dinner in the hotel.

Day 3 – December 1
Lots of lessons learned on this day since winging it did not work in our favor this time. We had hit most of the touristy spots in Auckland so we decided to take a ferry to Waiheke Island (basically their own little Napa island). If you would like to spend the day wine tasting, pay for a group tour or plan in advance. I made literally every wrong decision planning. Gosh, I’m getting anxiety just remembering lol. First we missed our intended ferry at 9:30 because we were enjoying breakfast. We caught the 10am ferry and once we got to the island, we found the 11am hop-on-hop-off. Our first reservation was for Batch Winery at 11 – we rescheduled for 12 since transportation took longer than we expected. We only had 30 minutes there before we had a taxi take us across the island to the next winery. Batch was the highest elevation and had the prettiest views of the island. There was even an airport nearby so we could watch the planes. The wine itself was fine. I remember liking the Chardonnay. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to sit and enjoy the moment. The problem with transportation – there’s 2 different bus routes and I wanted to do some wineries on each route. Our tickets were for the West Bus route, but Man O’ War is hard to access and is on the far east side of the island. Do not take a taxi. It was so ridiculously expensive. We were told that the East Bus would take us back so we weren’t too worried about getting back. Man O’ War was a great spot! We had lunch and the wine tasting with views of the beach. It was such a laid back atmosphere that we stayed for a few hours (which also complicated the bus ride back). So we were finally ready to leave on the Bus that we didn’t have tickets for, but were told it’s fine. Apparently it was not fine and we got scolded for being dumb Americans. Whatever, it worked out in the end, but not the best situation. I had a reservation for dinner at a fancy winery called Mudbrick, but we had some time to kill so we were going to explore town and window shop. It was at this point I realized I lost my phone…I definitely wasn’t drunk but I had a few glasses of wine and I was emotionally/socially spent. I pretty much had a breakdown and cried at the ferry station while customer service was being literal angels. I was able to use find my iPhone to track it down to the off duty bus parking lot and had an employee fetch it for me – once again dumb Americans. Anyway we could have still done the fancy restaurant at sunset as planned, but we were done. I think I also timed the return ferry wrong? Like if we stayed for dinner we would have been stuck on the island? haha We caught the 7pm ferry back and had food from the hotel restaurant.

Day 4 – December 2
First day on the road! We picked up the rental car close to the hotel in downtown Auckland and I drove out of the city. I survived driving on the left side in the city and in the later windy country roads. After 2.5 hours of driving, we got to Hahei beach for our 1pm kayak tour. Hahei, located on The Coromandel, is an attractive beach fringed with pohutukawa trees and drifts of pink shells at the northern end. The offshore islands provide something of a breakwater, making this sheltered beach ideal for swimming, boating and fishing. The surrounding areas form the boundaries of a marine reserve, making this a popular destination for diving, snorkeling and kayaking. Reefs, caves, archways and soft sediments provide the ideal habitat for a variety of plants, fish, mollusks and crustaceans. Our kayak tour was booked through our travel agent because I insisted on seeing Cathedral Cove. The tour was great! The currents weren’t bad and the weather was perfect, so I didn’t get too tired out. It was a hard workout though. We stopped at a few places along the coast for our guide to explain more about the protected land and Maori culture before getting to the cove. Unfortunately, the fish were hiding to our guide’s disappointment. Once we beached, we had time for pictures while our guide made a coffee and cookie set up for us. We took even more pictures and paddled back to Hahei and our car. There is a walking trail from Hahei to Cathedral Cove that was closed for years, but it opened up the weekend we were there! It takes about 45 minutes and the track follows the cliff edge. Alternatively, you can book a kayak or boat tour like we did. After the beach, we drove 30 minutes to our hotel in Whitianga. We asked around for food recommendations and ended up walking 7 minutes to The Wharf and dinner options.

Day 5 – December 3
HOBBIT DAY! We woke up early in Witianga and drove the 2.5 hours to Matamata. Our set tour of Hobbiton was 11:10 and we arrived just in time at 10:50. The tour was magical and we were the only people dressed in costume. You start by the parking lot and gift shop. There’s a billboard sign for pictures and lines for each tour group to board the bus. While the bus drives a short distance to the set, they play a video featuring Peter Jackson and other crew talking about the location and the filming. Our group got off the bus and started LITERALLY WALKING AROUND HOBBITON. It was crowded, but they were really good about crowd management. They kept everyone moving so we stayed towards the back to take pictures without a crowd. Unfortunately this means I was half listening to the tour guide and missed a lot of the fun facts. We saw a bunch of hobbit holes including Bag End and Sam’s. We learned about the set design and maintenance. Some of the trees are fake to meet the vision that PJ had, but a lot of it is real and requires full time gardening maintenance. We saw Bilbo’s birthday field and the bridge to Bywater and the Green Dragon. A new addition to the tour is LITERALLY GOING INSIDE A HOBBIT HOLE. Since this was a set, all the holes are just exterior only. I think during COVID, they build 2 holes that you can walk through, sit at the table, lay in the bed, jump in the bathtub, and touch everything! At the end, we got a complementary drink at the Green Dragon – it did not come in pints. Our tour also included lunch so we went back to this tent for a hobbit buffet that was delicious. We had great discussions with the people at our table. Two of the girls were locals and gave us a list of gas station road trip snacks to try. It was Mom’s turn to try driving on the left so we drove 1 hour to our hotel. We spent the evening resting and planning our next few days.

Day 6 – December 4
So we had an 8am tour that we woke up early for, but it got pushed to the afternoon because of weather. This also ruined our dinners plans. We spent the morning in Rotorua relaxing at a cute cafe nearby that also had some handmade gifts. We met our tour pick up at 12:30pm and started the drive to Tarawera. 8km of off-roading in a sketchy van was a fun way to start the tour. Mount Tarawera is famous for it’s violent eruption in June 1886. In 2002, the Ngāti Rangitihi sub-tribe of Te Arawa prohibited public access to the mountain unless guided tours or scenic flights. The Crater Hike itself was about 4km and took about 2 hours. The steep incline was the hardest part especially with the loose gravel, but weather and visibility was perfect. The absolutely highlight was walking down in the crater?! I can’t find the name, but I keep calling it Sandwalking. Basically we have to lean back and dig our heels in as we made our way done the steep incline. It was such a unique experience that really stood out during the whole trip. After the tour, we found a seafood boil place for dinner and went to the popular geothermal baths at the Polynesian Spa to relax that evening. There were multiple baths with different temperature of both acidic and alkaline natural mineral springs. Acidic pools are known to soothe sore muscles and relieving tension, while Alkaline pools soften and nourish the skin. All the pools had a view of Lake Rotorua and were perfect for sunset.

Day 7 – December 5
Another popular site that was out of the way, but I insisted on seeing lol. We left Rotorua around 10am to make our 1pm tour. Once we arrived to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, we started with a walk through the caves and saw cool rock formations and caverns. More than 300 of caves are scattered across this farming district, roughly the size of Rhode Island, carved out of limestone by underground streams over thousands of years. A characteristic that lends the region its name, Waitomo, meaning “water passing through a hole” in Māori. For the second part of the tour, we got in a boat for the glowworms. The glowworm (Arachnocampa Luminosa) is unique to New Zealand, making the Waitomo Glowworm Caves an absolute must-do. I kept saying it was like a Disney ride – it was too magical to be real. Nature is cool. Many of the guides are direct descendants of the Maori chief who originally explored the cave, bringing the cave to life through story-telling and explaining the world-famous cave’s history, features and legends. We got lunch on site and did some souvenir shopping before leaving.
Once we got back to our hotel in Rotorua, we had time to change before our cultural Te Pā Tū dinner experience. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! We got some introduction from the bus driver on the way over before watching the sacred Welcome Ceremony once we arrived. Then we were split into small groups and rotated around individual stations to learn different parts of their culture. We started with the Haka, then Poi, some childhood games, and ended with storytelling. The next part of the experience was gathering in the main hut for the pros to demonstrate everything we just learned. They did dancing and singing, and I love witnessing the cultural traditions continuing to be passed down. To Mom’s delight, they even sang songs from visiting guest countries – like Edelweiss for Germany and Wagon Wheel for America lol. The evening concluded with a fancy, delicious dinner. Te Pā Tū presents culture and kai (cuisine) events – sharing Māori history, traditions, and future aspirations across four hours of celebration and feasting.

Day 8 – December 6
Rotorua is also famous for geysers so we made one more tourist stop before driving to Wellington. Wai-O-Tapu has the famous Lady Knox Geyser. I would say it’s like their Old Faithful, but they actually trigger the eruption every day at 10:15 for tour groups. They put a natural chemical in the fountain to trigger the geyser (picture coke and mentos). This unique geyser can reach up to heights of 10-20 meters. The show itself provided cool information with how the geyser was discovered and a Maori prayer. In 1901, the first open prison in New Zealand was established at Waiotapu. It was a gang of those prisoners who first discovered the clearing in which the geyser is situated and that the spring could be made to erupt by adding soap, discovered when they first added soap to the hot water to wash their clothes. After the show, we went to the main park area for a quick walk around the thermal pools. Waiotapu is Māori for sacred waters. Once again so glad we did this! Champagne pool and Green pool were our favorites for the colors. We had lunch meat pies on site and did shopping at the gift store. Then we began our drive to Wellington. We managed to drive in the city and park our SUV in the tight parking garage. For dinner, we walked down to the Waterfront and ended up getting pizza and caesar salad. We debated about staying by the water for sunset, but we were cold and tired. It probably wouldn’t have been a good view for sunset anyway. We went back to the hotel for TV and wine which became a common theme.

Day 9 – December 7
Oh boy, oh boy! WETA WORKSHOP DAY!!! We met with our group in downtown Wellington at 10am and drove over to Weta Workshop. Our driver was great about providing local information like the private gondolas to bring groceries and furniture up the steep slopes. There’s even a Wellington “Hollywood” sign that was open to the public to vote for the design – a soccer ball won. Of course, he provided great Weta and Lord of the Rings fun facts too! He was an orc extra in the movies and a Hobbit voice actor in the new Tales of the Shire video game. Before and After the formal tour, we had time to take pictures and explore the gift shop (more fun than it sounds. I was GEEKING OUT). Formal tour started with a fun video intro with founders Richards and Tania. The company was created in 1987 starting with projects like Xena and Hercules before landing Lord of the Rings and literal hundreds of other fantasy and sci-fi projects. We got a video prosthetic demo with Jed Brophy (reoccurring actor in Lord of the Rings and Hobbit). We got to see weapons, armor, and chainmail created for these movies – notably live action Mulan’s sword, centaur armor for Narnia, and some sci-fi stuff I was less good at recognizing. The prop room was fun, because we got a demo on how to make stuff out of tin foil! I knew this is how they did built several movie props, because I’m a movie nerd, but it was still cool to see. We even got to do it ourselves. I built a very sad looking mushroom out of tin foil. There was a hallway with all the Baftas and Oscars the studio has won for their work. There was more miniatures and pieces as well. I recognized the city from Mortal Engines which I thought was cool. Last room was an interactive summary of everything we just did! It was was extra fun, because we could play around and take pictures!
After this very exciting morning, we got lunch in Wellington from an American burger and milkshakes place decorated with airplane seats. Mom was getting sick of Asian fusion and seafood. I wanted to keep exploring and did the Te Papa Museum while Mom rested. Te Papa is New Zealand’s National Museum and in Maori it stands for “the treasure box”. There were exhibits about Maui and the early Pacific way finders (cue Moana soundtrack). There were displays of the native plants and animals (more Kiwi and Moa). The Colossal Squid was creepy, but it was the biggest ever caught and the only complete one on display in the world. There were jars of other creepy critters too. The most special exhibit was Gallipoli and the war. Man, I was crying learning about this. Weta Workshop helped contribute by making huge sculptures of the men from the war. 2,779 New Zealanders died. One a lighter note, (kidding) I moved on to the transformation of Aotearoa. You know how it started as a beautiful native country and English settlers destroyed a lot of the land and inhabitants. Today, 25% of indigenous forests remain with nearly all lowland areas cleared for agriculture. It also covered the changing imports and exports over the centuries, but wool and agriculture always planned an important role. There was a whole room dedicated to the plants and animals that went extinct due to English settlement. The Maori creation story was cool – Whenua means land and placenta. Basically humans were made from Mother Earth. The first female formed gave birth a daughter (no men haha).
Ended the day with walking Cuba Street and getting some dinner.

Day 10 – December 8
Ferry Travel Day! It was time to go to the South Island. Our ferry was at 1pm, but our car had to be dropped off at the ferry terminal at 9am – so no sleeping in and relaxing. We drove over and dropped our car off and took the most expensive Uber back into the city for McDonalds and Subway lol. We also killed time by looking at the actual government buildings in Wellington – the famous Beehive shaped Parliament building. Eventually, we got on the ferry and I napped for a majority of the 3 hour ride across the Cook Strait. We got into Picton around 4pm and picked up our new rental car. We still had a 2.5 hour drive to our lodgings for the night and we suspected they were waiting for us to check in, so we drove straight to Motueka. After we checked in around 8pm, we went to dinner at a local brewery called Sprig + Fern.

Day 11 – December 9
Winery and Beach Day! This is the famous Sauvignon Blanc region of New Zealand. I think I already mentioned, it super commercialized, so when we went to a small women/family owned winery, we had all the Pinot Noir lol. Neudorf winery was perfect for a tasting and a picnic. The grounds and vibes were lovely, and the owner, Rosie, was the one pouring our wine! Honestly, there was not a wine I did not enjoy. We even bought a case and shipped it home – surprisingly cheap! Our winery picnic came with fresh bread, delicious cheese and a cockapoo dog. After our winery experience, we packed up our wine and cheese leftovers and went to the local Kaiteriteri Beach! We actually went to the “little” version around the corner first by mistake. I preferred it because it was less crowded. We then went to explore the touristy side of the beach. I got the obligatory fish and chips to pair with my beach and Neudorf Rose. Also got a sunburn lol

Day 12 – December 10
Roadtrip Day! When you drive 6 hours south, not much else happens. We slept in and didn’t set alarms. We checked out at 10am and found a cafe in Moteuka City Centre. At noon, we started our drive to Franz-Josef glacier region. It was a beautiful drive, but uneventful. We had a pit stop at Greymouth to get a snack and coffee. Quick rant about cafes here (which I think I also already mentioned). Most cafes say they close 3-4pm BUT the kitchens tend to close closer to 2pm, so it makes it hard for us when we’re hangry. They can still heat up display food so meat pies and quiches are still available. Always get the meat pies. Anyway, we made it to our stay for the next few days which was the cutest cabin in the mountains.

Day 13 – December 11
Supposed to be our Heli-Hike. hehe the middle of the trip was a lot of unplanned downtime. Our tour was scheduled for 10am. We were supposed to take a helicopter to the top of the glacier and then hike around before flying back down. If we had the earlier tour, we would have had a blast, but it’s hard to predict the weather. So instead we did some local hikes called Callery Gorge and Tartare Tunnels – both were fun. After the weather cleared up a bit, we drove over to the Fanz Josef viewpoint to at least see what were supposed to hike. For dinner, we had the famous Alice May restaurant and I loved the true crime story of the place! To end the day, Mom and I had romantic reservations for the hot pools at sunset which we also brought our own wine and cheese too. The pools were log burning and felt very much like a Bachelor date.

Day 14 – December 12
Supposed to be our Heli-Hike. hehe this time we tried the 7am trip for better odds of beating the weather, but it was still a no-go. We even got all geared up and made it to the helipad before they called it. The guide was great and we got a cool local floral and fauna lesson instead. He handed me three different leaves and I stuck them in my mouth without questioning it lol. One ended up being spicy! So instead of the Heli-Hike, we started our scenic drive south to Wanaka. Haast Pass was gorgeous and we added several stops including – Roaring Billy, Thunder Creek, Fantail. Even the lakes driving in were lovely shades of blue and turquoise. We went to Hook in Wanaka for dinner which was a fun family option with literal “lake to plate” service. The gimmick was you go salmon fishing in the lake and then they grill it up for your meal! You can also just order without fishing for your own dinner.

Day 15 – December 13
We found a crepe food truck in downtown Wanaka for breakfast. We window shopped and found a store selling sheepskin products and I bought a very expensive pillow case. We were still trying to see if a glacier option could still happen. We wouldn’t drive back to Frans-Josef, but Wanaka had flight options to at least fly over some glaciers. However, weather was still not cooperating in the mountains. We stayed in Wanaka and went to Puzzling World which is like a Ripley’s Believe It or Not kids museum. The gift shop offered fun souvenirs. We checked out the local lavender farm, but we were short on time so we had to rush our afternoon tea. Since the heli-hike did not happen, I booked us a Jet Boat tour on the river. This is a popular NZ tourist activity and we ended up having the boat to ourselves for a private tour. This specific jet boat is famous of the 360 spins, but our tour was a good mix of thrill ride and scenic tour. Another popular spot in town is the Paradiso – this is a movie theater similar to our Alamo Drafthouses? I don’t know – it was small and cozy with couches instead of theater seats. Mom and I ordered pizza and cookies while watching the new LOTR movie, War of the Rohirrim (because when in New Zealand 😉

Day 16 – December 14
We found another food truck for breakfast. This time it was a healthy granola vibe attached to a grocery store. I had an Acai bowl and mushroom coffee. We went back to the Lavender Farm because we really wanted to slow down and enjoy it. The land itself is huge and perfect for exploring the lavender, the honey, the animals, and the fun props. We had a more relaxed afternoon tea and enjoyed shopping for Manuka Honey. From there, we continued our drive south to Queenstown. Across the street from our hotel, we found a dinner option on the water for sunset. We saw the famous Steamboat dock right next to our table before setting off again.

Day 17 – December 15
This was an early wake up call for our bus ride to Milford Sound. Queenstown to Milford Sound is like a 4 hour drive, but they made it manageable with breaks. We stopped about halfway for breakfast, shopping, and bathrooms. You could stay and get cafeteria food there, or Mom and I walked to Miles Better Pies for their famous local delicacy. We had time to walk around a bit and even saw a water-skier out on the lake. Our bus ride continued through Fiordland National Park and we stopped at all the popular sights. Normally this region is known for being super rainy, but we got a rare sunny day. At the harbor, we got on the Milford Mariner which was a gorgeous ship. The boat tour was 2 hours of the Sound and full of waterfalls and seals. At the end, instead of a 4 hour bus ride back (which was an option), we took a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. It was the perfect view of the mountains since our helicopter trip was canceled. It felt like the landscape shots of the Misty Mountains. Once we landed, somehow we had energy to do the Skyline gondola at sunset and enjoy the buffet dinner. Food was not great but views were 10/10.

Day 18 – December 16
To wrap up the Lord of the Rings themed vacation, I booked a nerdy Middle Earth Tour. We highly recommend Trails of Middle Earth of the authentic, personal expertise – not to mention they have the largest collection of authentic props for photoshoots AND copies of the script and call sheets. Other tours are a little more corporate cash grabs and don’t have all the “toys”. We did the halfday tour covering Arrowtown, Gibbston Valley, and Skippers Canyon. Besides the multiple (and very cool) LOTR locations, Arrowtown was so cool! It was like an Old West gold mining town full of cultural history.
We took the afternoon off to rest in the hotel and make a dent in the bottles of wine we purchased lol

Day 19 – December 17
Another early morning for another tour! This time we drove ourselves to Glenorchy for Paradise Ziplines. This was a full morning with a small hike up, safety briefings, and EIGHT fun ziplines on the course. First one being the tallest and scariest. Later ones being longer and over rivers.
We spent the afternoon enjoying the beauty of Glenorchy (also Isengard). The Glenorchy Lagoon Walk was a 2 mile loop and we got lunch in town after.
We went back to Queenstown for dinner and sunset. We wanted to do some southern wineries, but ran out of time. We did Bathhouse Cafe for dinner which was casual, but such a vibe! It’s on the beach and has a cool, royal history. I did the Pinot flight and all 3 were delicious. Terra Sancta from Otago was my favorite and we found it in stores after.

Day 20 – December 18
Time to say Goodbye (for the present). We had an morning Air New Zealand flight from Queenstown back to Auckland. We were able to have breakfast before our flight. In Auckland, things were a little more complicated. They wouldn’t let us check in until last minute since we were standby and there were weight restrictions. We’re used to standby, but they usually still let us check in. After waiting with other standby passengers (some who were on day 3 of trying to get home), they let us through and we rushed through shopping at Duty-Free before going to the gate. Flight was delayed anyway for a connecting flight. Once in SFO, our flight to EWR was also delayed so we didn’t miss our connection. What could have been a very stressful, long day (remember it’s like 19 hours in air) worked out perfectly! Dad picked us up around 7pm and we went to Olive Garden for a classic American dinner.