As we're sure you've heard, our honeymoon took us most of the way around the globe. We had an amazing time seeing as much of New Zealand as 15 days would allow. You can read about our trip below, or just let the pictures tell the story for you. If you'd like any of the pictures in the slideshow, just let us know and we would be happy to share them with you.
Day 1: Auckland
We touched down in Auckland on time after a 13 hour flight
from San Francisco spent mostly sleeping. Our driver delivered us to our hotel,
the Novotel Auckland around 6:30 am local time. As expected, our room was not
yet ready, so we dropped our bags off at the hotel and washed up in their
fitness center before heading out to check out the city, stopping first at a
very neat outdoor café – Queen St. Café – for brunch. By early afternoon, we
had seen most of the waterfront – including the New Zealand America’s Cup team
headquarters, the campus of Auckland University and had a lovely time walking
around the large public park surrounding the Auckland War and History museum, checking
out the Art museum (which was free) and stopping in several city gardens on our
way. After a nap and taking a nap in our room, we had dinner down at the Wharf.
Each of us got a very good burger at Jack Tar Pub on one of the piers. Mike’s
burger was the first of many lamb meals we had while on the trip.
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Day 2: Auckland
Today we started out on an 8:15 ferry to Devonport Island. After a delicious breakfast of pastries at StoneOven Bakery, we headed up to Mt. Victoria to check out the view of the island and of Auckland across the way. By chance – and perfect timing – we ended up at the peak of the volcano just in time to see the annual Labour Day Sailboat race. After taking a look at the historic, retractable 1855 gun on the top of the hill, we walked down Mt. Victoria and up to Mt. North Head, site of an old Navy bunker and another large gun.
We then headed back to Auckland in time to catch the 1:00 ferry to Waiheke for a wine tour around the island. Waiheke happens to be a major vacation destination for city dwellers and we got out just before the big rush. The wine tour was enjoyable with a fun bus driver and a variety of wineries. The first winery was everything that one might imagine – ivy covered mudstone walls and scenic views from the patio. The second, Goldie, is operated by the University of Auckland and doesn’t have a very pretty building, but is run as an educational facility. The third winery we visited, Te Whau, was set on a cliff with fabulous views of the water and the island. This winery was very big on sustainability and there is supposedly some science behind the idea of growing grapes on a hill. After the wine tasting, we hopped on a bus to Onetangi Beach for fish & chip and calamari at Charlie Farley’s. We met a few sets of Americans on the way, including a young couple from Kansas City, MO who are on the Waitomo caves tour tomorrow. It was very cold waiting for the return ferry, so we called it a night around 10 to rest up for our early morning. |
Day 3: Auckland to Rotorua
We spent most of today on a bus traveling from Auckland to Rotorua, still on the North Island. The first stop was the Waitomo glow worm caves. These natural caves house limestone stalactite and stalagmite formations in addition to glow worms. Our tour included some history of the caves and a wonderful boat ride through the glow worm grotto. The worms looked like stars on the cave ceiling.
From Waitomo, we continued heading south to the Argodome – an educational farm. This was a pick up point for our Hobbiton bus, which was late. Since it was late, we had time to wander around the site. Having been to state fairs, the Argodome was very unimpressive. Hobbiton in contrast was great. It was exactly like stepping into the Shire (with the exception of all the annoying tourists taking too many pictures). Every hobbit hole was adorable with the English cottage style gardens and furniture. We learned that Hobbiton is actually on a 1000+ acre sheep farm and was selected for its rolling hills, natural lake and most importantly, its 100 year oak “party tree.” Both the trilogy and Hobbit series were filmed at the farm. Originally the Trilogy set was temporary, so when the tore part of it out, the farm owner negotiated to have the rest left as an attraction and the new Hobbit set was constructed to be permanent. At the end of the tour, they give you a drink of your choice at the Green Dragon Pub. The beer is brewed locally and only served at the Green Dragon. It was arguably the best drink we had on our trip. Our hotel in Rotura had natural hot springs which feed the hot tub. It stinks like eggs though and we only lasted 30 minutes before calling it quits. We had a delicious Taps dinner at Atticus Finch, located very close to our hotel and on “Eat Street.” After dinner, we went to Pig and Whistle Pub to listen to a cover band. The place was perfect for us to sit and relax. |
Day 4: Rotorua
This morning we did a tour of two geothermal sites – Wai O Taupu and Waimangu. Our schoolteacher-by-trade guide was part Maori and gave us a very informative tour of each site, linking Maori history and beliefs with regional events. The geothermal sites were mindblowing – from the colors to the natural hot spring pools, to geysers and the bright blue acid pool, the geothermal sites were stunning natural wonders.
For dinner, we enjoyed a unique Maori meal called a Hangi as part of a Maori emersion experience. The cultural performances were very entertaining and informative. A few of the young performers were very good at bugging out their eyes and sticking their tongues out menacingly. Our Maori bus driver, to and from their site from downtown was insane but entertaining. Day 5: Rotorua to Nelson
Flights from Rotorua to Nelson (on the South Island) went smoothly for us. The airports are so small they have zero security for domestic flights and you walk out to your plane. Upon arriving in Nelson and settling at our B&B, we walked around the city. It was a holiday and many things were closed, so we had lunch at a flalafel place that was open. We explored the nice public park and hiked up to “The Center of New Zealand,” a steep hike to a nice overlook. For dinner, we headed to Mac’s Brewery, which brews its own tasty beer. We crashed early in tasty anticipation of our early start tomorrow.
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Day 6: Nelson - Abel Tasman National Park
Today in Abel Tasman was awesome! We started the day bright and early in order to make our 8:30am appointment at Abel Tasman Kayaks. Our drive was easy enough despite the steering wheel being on the right and driving on the left. We got into Marahau early enough to stroll the beach. At low tide, the beach extends significantly – so much so, that the aqua taxis need to be pulled by a tractor across sand bars to launch at the bay. We lucked out and were the only people signed up for the kayak excursion and we had two guides, Roy and Ruby. Kayaking along the coastline was spectacular. We lucked out and the weather held and we were able to see seals. The seals were numerous along the rocky coast and were either sun bathing, playing on the rocks, or diving in the water. Our guide took us to a bay only accessible in high tide that was calm and had great foliage. We paddled together in one boat and when kayaking was over, we hiked the remaining 5.5 km on foot to our aquataxi pickup. We made it just in time before it started raining. Prior to leaving Marahau, we got a drink and snack at The Sprig and Fern. Our drive back was slow and windy on the coastal road and then tame through the farmlands. In Nelson, we had a mediocre meal of nachos and beer at the Nelson Sprig and Fern.
Day 7: Nelson
Today was our leisure day in Nelson, which we spent hiking up nearby peaks and window shopping. We started our day off right at the Founders historic brewery on the edge of town. We sampled all of their beers and peaked at their brewing process. Afterwards, we shoppd a bit in town and had a nice lunch at the Morrison Gallery & Café. Lunch also served as a respite from rain showers which occurred intermittently throughout the day. After lunch, we bought apples and jam from the farmers market and hiked up to the summit of one of the nearby hills. Rain showers couldn’t deter us and we made it to the top. Dinner was a delicious 4 course Thai meal at Harry’s.
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Day 8: Nelson to Christchurch
This was our first full day of driving and we did just fine. Katie did the driving and Mike navigated. The drive presented us with both hilly farmlands and stunning coastal views. The best view came at Kaikoura where snow peaked mountains are visible from the sandy beaches. We stopped here for a few hours to get lunch, souvenirs and to spot some seals. Once back on the road we shortly left the coast for less windy farm roads. We arrived in Christchurch after approximately 6.5 hours of driving. Our hotel was right in the heart of what is left of the city and we were able to find dinner 3 doors down at the Astrolounge. This hidden gem (latterly hidden behind a restaurant called Cooking with Gas) housed open mic night and had the best lamburger we had. We enjoyed listening to the live acts while drinking the house brew. The music sung included Neil Young, Bob Dylan and some Spanish songs we didn’t understand. It was a very enjoyable place.
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Day 9: Christchurch
As this was our mid-trip leisure day, we spent it wandering around Christchurch and taking photos of buildings in various states of distress. We had another fabulous meal – this time at the Pegasus Arms. Katie had blue cheese and pesto topped portabella mushrooms, which were delicious.
Christchurch is in a state of rebuild after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes which leveled most of the financial downtown. It is a civil engineers dream right now and we enjoyed seeing the designs for the new projects. They’ve been creative with a few of the empty lots, creating spaces or temporary shops using brightly colored shipping containers. We spent a lot of time at the downtown cathedral after having brick oven pizza at the shipping containers. The cathedral is a point of debate right now as decisions are made to either repair it or demolish it. According to a poll in the local newspaper, citizens are split on whether it should be kept. Most of the walls are still standing, but the structure suffered significant damage. While not much has happened with the cathedral since the earthquake, many of the historic buildings are undergoing substantial renovations. |
Day 10: Christchurch to Franz Josef
The drive today took about 8 hours and included a two hour stop at Castle Hill and a short stop in Arthur’s Pass for lunch. The majority of the drive was up windy mountain passes and through valleys. However, the last few hours were along the coast. There are some stunning mountain peaks along the way. At Castle Hill, we explored the large boulders from which the area got its name. These round boulders crop up in between cow fields and are large enough to hurt you pretty badly if you fall off up at the top. Some people were bouldering in the area. We decided to walk out from the boulder area up a long, long hill in hopes of mountain views. The view from the top was not as spectacular as anticipated, but the extra stretching for our legs. We thoroughly enjoyed the Castle Hill area – it made the drive tolerable.
Franz Josef is a little mountain town with a handful of restaurants, hotels and not much else. Our hotel room at the Punga Grove is huge and had a small kitchenette. Dinner was bangers and mash at Alice May’s – two doors down. The rest of the night, we watched rugby, played cards and went to bed early.
Franz Josef is a little mountain town with a handful of restaurants, hotels and not much else. Our hotel room at the Punga Grove is huge and had a small kitchenette. Dinner was bangers and mash at Alice May’s – two doors down. The rest of the night, we watched rugby, played cards and went to bed early.
Day 11: Franz Josef
This was supposed to be our glacier helicopter hike day, but due to rains that wouldn’t cease, all flights were grounded. We were disappointed, but not going to waste the day. So after watching the USA rugby team get trounced by the New Zealand All Blacks team at the Landing Restaurant, we headed out to the nearby glacier for a few hikes. Views of the glacier from these trails are not as stunning as it would have been to actually walk on them, but we still got to see the blue of the glacier and get hikes in.
One of the awesome things about the glacier valley we were in was all the interesting rocks covering the entire trail. Katie picked up a lot to keep and gazed at the stratified ones too large to take. The other great thing about the location is that it is set in a rainforest. This meant some of our 4.5 hours of hiking was spent surrounded by lush ferns, moss, dark wood trees and loud chirping birds. We did get quire soaked by the end, but that was all part of the enchantment of the forest. On one of the hikes we crossed a long suspension bridge which swayed when we walked across the trail. The trail on the other side was washed out, so we promptly went back across. After finally calling it a day on hiking, we got dry and went to the Landing for dinner. Katie ordered fried food to offset the positive hiking and Mike got pesto pasta. We finished the night playing cards and this time watching cricket. |
Day 12: Franz Josef to Queenstown
The driving today was long and uneventful. It rained nearly the whole trip and we only stopped once. The scenery changed from mountainous rainforest to the coast lined with agricultural fields. As we neared our stopping point on Lake Wanka, we transitioned to stunning alpine valleys. Wanaka is a lake town set in the Southern Alps. We had a nice lunch and walked around the town before heading another hour to Queenstown. The lake at Wanaka is large and beautiful. Though the town didn’t have much more than a few souvenir, sporting goods and realty shops, it seems like a great place for people who want to be on a lake and have access to the mountains.
We pulled into breathtaking Queenstown in the early evening, but the sun doesn’t set until after 8pm, so we had plenty of time to walk around the friendly downtown. It had just snowed over the weekend, so the town was surrounded by dramatic snow-tipped mountains. Katie parked the car in a 24/7 garage around the corner while Mike checked us in to the hotel. After getting settled, we walked to find dinner and had a delicious pasta meal in the upstairs dining room of Chico’s. Their choice of dinner music was very entertaining as it was 90s/2000s pop/hip hop, with artists like Outkast, Dr. Dre & Shania Twain but set in a place that felt like a ski lodge. We were fortunate to catch a gorgeous sunset at the lake and then retired for the night. |
Day 13: Queenstown
Today was a guided tour-free day, so we set out on our own to do some local hiking. The weather was significantly better than previous days – it was clear and sunny, though a bit cold. Our first hike was up Queenstown hill and produced the most stunning views of the trip. Though a steep and moderately taxing hike, it only took us about an hour to get to the summit. Once there, we had 360° views of mountains as far as the eye could see. Photography can’t capture how beautiful it is. It is an ideal place to settle – a mountain valley near a lake with some land for horses.
Eventually we trekked back down via the loop we didn’t take on the way up – through the evergreen forest that they are trying to eradicate. We took a break for great wraps at Johnny Bars in downtown and then went looking for the trailhead for the gondola hill hike. This was another steep hike which primarily traversed through the forest and crossed some very fun looking downhill mountain bike trails. When we got to the top, we went to the visitor’s center located at the top of the gondola for another perspective of the spectacular views from our first hike. Again, we chose to take a different path down than we had taken up, this time staying deeper into the woods on our way down.
We made it back into town in time for happy hour and to watch the biggest televised horse race of the year. The race is actually in Australia, but appeared to be a big deal in town. The bar that we decided to go to had some betting set up for people watching. We participated in a bet where you randomly pick a ticket, with a number assigned to each horse and the payout is for horses that finish in the top 3. One of our tickets was for the favored horse, so we liked our chance. When the race started, our other pick got out to an early lead and we were sitting with the first and second place horses until the last 1/8 of the race or so. Turns out our horses spent their energy too soon and both fell to the very pack over the last few lengths of the race. After taking some time to get cleaned up, we went to a burger place called Devil Burger for dinner.
Eventually we trekked back down via the loop we didn’t take on the way up – through the evergreen forest that they are trying to eradicate. We took a break for great wraps at Johnny Bars in downtown and then went looking for the trailhead for the gondola hill hike. This was another steep hike which primarily traversed through the forest and crossed some very fun looking downhill mountain bike trails. When we got to the top, we went to the visitor’s center located at the top of the gondola for another perspective of the spectacular views from our first hike. Again, we chose to take a different path down than we had taken up, this time staying deeper into the woods on our way down.
We made it back into town in time for happy hour and to watch the biggest televised horse race of the year. The race is actually in Australia, but appeared to be a big deal in town. The bar that we decided to go to had some betting set up for people watching. We participated in a bet where you randomly pick a ticket, with a number assigned to each horse and the payout is for horses that finish in the top 3. One of our tickets was for the favored horse, so we liked our chance. When the race started, our other pick got out to an early lead and we were sitting with the first and second place horses until the last 1/8 of the race or so. Turns out our horses spent their energy too soon and both fell to the very pack over the last few lengths of the race. After taking some time to get cleaned up, we went to a burger place called Devil Burger for dinner.
Day 14: Queenstown - Milford Sound
After a long, physically active day in Queenstown, we had a much more relaxing day to recover. We started out with an early bus ride to Milford Sound which took a bit over 4 hours. The ride itself was very scenic with a few sops to get out and see some natural springs and ponds. There were also some spectacular mountain passes and a long tunnel to travel through. It was nice to be able to sit back and look at the scenery and not need to worry about driving.
Upon arriving at Milford Sound, which is actually a fiord, in The Fiordlands, we boarded a boat for a ride through the Fiord. The glacially carved walls were extremely steep in the fiord and we saw several waterfalls. The final waterfall which we saw was Lady Bowen Falls, at over 150m, it is three times the height of Niagara Falls. We also got to see some dolphins at the foot of the falls. After the boat ride was over, we had a return bus ride back to Queenstown. In Queenstown, we had a great dinner at a Pacific Island fusion restaurant called Blue Kanu before calling it a night. |
Day 15: Queenstown
Our last full day in New Zealand, we stayed closer to Queenstown for a jet boating and funyaking experience. After skimming up the shallow riverbed in jet boats, we floated back down the river in funyaks, which are a cross between rafts and canoes. The pace of the float was very relaxed and geared towards families and afforded relaxed views of the surrounding mountains. We learned that many popular movies and commercials (in addition to the Lord of the Rings) had major scenes filmed in the area.
For our last dinner, we went to a nice restaurant overlooking the water called Finz Down Under. We had another great meal and then went to a 007 themed bar called The Bunker for drinks before calling it a night. |
Day 16: Queenstown
Our final morning was spent wandering the streets of Queenstown to pick up a few last souvenirs before heading to the airport, returning the rental car and flying home. Our first flight was from Queenstown to Auckland and then from Auckland we flew to San Francisco and then Boston. It was a pretty weird experience that our flight from San Francisco actually left “earlier” than our flight from Auckland and made for a very long Friday before we finally made it home late Friday night.
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