Arrival in New Zealand

We arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on January 21.  We spent 10 days on the North Island before arriving on the South Island.  Here are some of the things we did and places we visited:

·         Customs and biohazard – Clearing customs and biohazard at the airport in New Zealand is no small feat!  We waited hours as everyone’s bags were meticulously checked.  Unfortunately, being campers, we had to go through extra searching as our tent and hiking boots had to be cleaned from all the germs of southern Africa.

·         New car – Within three days we found and bought a silver 2000 Mazda Demio to be our very own New Zealand car.  This lucky vehicle gets to take us all over New Zealand!

·         Silo Park – We met Bex and Theresa who took us to Silo Park in Auckland.  We enjoyed food from the dinner market as well as the movie “The Lion King”, which was projected on the side of one of the old silos.  The park was completely packed out with people.

Achilles Point in Auckland

·         Paihia and Bay of Islands – We drove up to Northland and enjoyed some sunny (and not-so-sunny) days there.  We took a boat cruise around the Bay of Islands and saw about 20 dolphins playing around!  We also cruised through a large hole in a rock, which is aptly named "Hole in the Rock".

Dolphins in the Bay of Islands

Sailboat in the Bay of Islands

The Hole in the Rock

·         Cape Reinga – This is almost the northernmost tip of New Zealand.  The views were beautiful from here.

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga

Where the Tasman Sea meets the
Pacific Ocean (Cape Reinga)

·         Te Paki – We played around in these massive sand dunes and especially enjoyed running down them!

Keith having fun on the Te Paki Sand Dunes

·         Hobbiton – This was an amazing highlight.  The detail that went into the making of Hobbiton is unfathomable!  The Hobbit holes are so colourful and beautiful with their individual gardens, Bag End is perfect, and we loved The Green Dragon.  It makes me wish I was a Hobbit so I could live there!

Hobbit hole

Even as a Hobbit Keith is a carpenter

Hobbiton – The Green Dragon in the distance

Bag End

Our new home!

Bag End from below

The mill in Hobbiton

Cider at The Green Dragon

Keith the Hobbit

Which way to Hobbiton? 

·         Napier – A beautiful town on the coast.  We walked around the beach and town for a bit, and then spent a couple hours watching the movie “Frozen”.  We hadn’t watched a movie in a long time and it was great!

·         Hastings – We stayed over at a friend and his family’s house for a night.  We enjoyed getting their Canadian/Kiwi perspective on the country and seeing the city where they live.

Huka Falls (on our way to Hastings)

Te Mata in Hastings

·         Ferry – After a 2½-hour wait on the ferry, it finally departed Wellington and brought us to Picton!

Our last views of the North Island

 

We enjoyed our whirlwind tour of the North Island, but we were especially anxious to
get to the South Island and start looking for jobs and an apartment!