EVENT: Bay of Islands - Easter Weekend

 

What a kind of belated post this is - but over the Easter weekend, I headed back to New Zealand for a mini holiday. This time, I was in the Bay of Islands to visit a friend of mine. I'd never been to the Bay of Islands before - and it was oh so pretty! We spent most of the time seeing so many beautiful nature spots. I've shared some photos under the cut!

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EVENT: Day 12 - New Zealand

So this marks our last official day in New Zealand, day 12, just shy of two weeks. We technically left the next day early in the morning, but those are just details. On this last day, we headed to the Wellington Cable Car - it was wet, really wet! again, wet, windy, Wellington - and over to Zealandia, which is a pretty unique and interesting place, I must say. We ended up eating at the Wellingston street market before having an early night for our flight at 3am :)

And by the time you're reading these, I would have already gone to New Zealand and back again over New Years =D

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EVENT: Day 11 - New Zealand

Day 11, we went on a second LOTR tour. This one was a location tour - so we got to see where the film was shot, including a tour of Weta's workshop aka the Weta Cave (where unfortunately, photos weren't allowed - although a dummy of Sam Neill scared the bejesus out of me!). If you're a geek, like me, you should be able to recognise some of these familiar locations pictured. 

After the tour, we went for a bit of a walk around Wellington, as well as visiting Te Papa, the Wellington Museum. Check out the AMAZING work Weta did on the Gallipoli exhibit.

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EVENT: Day 10 - New Zealand

Day 10 was a bit of a travel day - after all the problems the day before, we had to rearrange a few things, so that meant we took a bus in the morning to Palmerston North, before we had a bus planned for later in the day. What a mistake. There's basically nothing much to do in Palmerston North if you don't have much time nor transport. We could have possibly seen something but we weren't organised enough, so we wandered around and wished our bus to Wellington was sooner. But we got there in the end - and walked to the Mount Victoria. We didn't release that LOTR was filmed there. Funny that!

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EVENT: Day 9 - New Zealand

Day 9 was a very stressful day. We were meant to leave Napier and spend the night in Palmerston North, but we couldn't rent a car that we could drop off in PN, so we had to rent a car from Napier and drop it back off in Napier, so we ended up staying an extra night. Why so? Well, I really wanted to see Norsewood and Dannevirke, and there was limited ways of getting there without a car. 

We got our car, drove to Hastings, Norsewood, Dannevirke and the town with the longest name, before arriving back in Napier around 9pm. It was a long day but totally worth it! I'm so grateful to my friend for driving for such a long time. I will never forget it.

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EVENT: Day 8 - New Zealand

It was a miserable day in Taupo again - as you can see in the photos. We went on a cruise in the morning to see the wall carvings (as seen under the cut), before we headed to our next city, Napier, for the night. When we arrived, we checked in, walked around town and grabbed a bite to eat before having an early night.

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EVENT: Day 7 - New Zealand

Ah, Day 7 - also known as Sunday, also known as my birthday. In the morning, we headed on the Wai-O-Tapu tour - which was by far the best value for money! We were pressed for time so we had to rush it a bit but gosh, it was beautiful. I took SO many photos and I loved every second of it!

We then had to catch our bus to Taupo - where we were staying that night. We went straight to see the Haku Falls, before we headed out for dinner for my birthday. We did a LOT of walking on my birthday. It was wet, cold and miserable, and I loved every second of it! But what a difference to go from sunny Auckland to miserable Taupo. Such a vast difference in weather. I'd love to see Taupo in the sunlight. I imagine the view of the Taupo Lake would be magnificent!

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EVENT: Day 6 - New Zealand

In the morning, we headed to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. It was magical. I loved it - although, I wish it had of gone of forever - and I wish that we had been allowed to take photos in the cave. Boo. 

After the cave, and a long bus ride back, we headed back to Rotorua and saw more of the town, including a Maori Village.

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EVENT: Day 5 - New Zealand

 

Day 5, we went ziplining through virgin forest somewhere in Rotorua. Having done the skyjump/walk just days before, to be honest, I actually found it quite boring. The guys were great and it was a lot of fun, but it just wasn't the adrenalin rush I was expecting - I think actually, I may have been expecting a faster flying-fox type of experience. But now matter, it was fun all the same =D I definitely don't regret it! Also, the scenery is gorgeous in the forest!

After ziplining for the day, we walked around the city a bit. I swear, looking over the water, it was like we were standing at the edge of the world. Rotorua is beautiful, and was my favourite place during the two weeks. Definitely a highlight of the trip!

Also, I can't believe today is January the 1st! Wow!

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EVENT: Day 4 - New Zealand

Day 4, we headed from Auckland to Rotorua. After checking into our amazing hotel, we headed straight to the Gondola and Luge ride. It was a lot of fun! Afterwards, we headed back into town to look at some thermal pools and then eat/shopping at the Rotorua street night market.

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EVENT: Day 3 - New Zealand

 

On Day 3, we went to Hobbiton. Yes, the Hobbiton, where the movies were filmed. We decided to go on the Hobbiton Express Tour from Auckland, because it included transport, a souvenir, lunch and a drink at the Green Dragon - all things that makes a geek like me very happy! 

If anyone is thinking about doing a tour, do this one as it is absolutely worth every cent! The souvenir is actually a $10 voucher to use in the gift shop. I'm not much for buying things I don't need , but with the $10, of course, I had to get something. So I spent $8 on a bottle opener and I bought two postcards. So that was my souvenirs - practicality is key for me. Also, lunch is SO worth it! You get an amazing array of foods to choose from and they're so yummy! It was one of the best meals we had when we were over there. I would 100% recommend the tour. Also, our driver stopped for ice cream on the way back, so that too was a plus!

All up though, Hobbiton was amazing! Everything is so pretty! We had perfect weather for photos! The bumblebees are so big! It's insane - just like the movies! It was such a magical high point of the trip!

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