Rotoura, NZ - Redwoods

We had a lazy morning today- late breakfast, laundry, British game shows and HGTV. I know, sounds silly, but this is the first day since arrive that we didn’t wake up with somewhere that we needed to be, so we took advantage of it. Anyway, it was only a half day of laying around. We went to a great spot for lunch. I can’t remember the name of it..but the food was great, and Ryan liked the beer.

Then, for today’s highlight: the Redwood forest!

They have a walkway up in the trees that you can climb up and look around.  The view was pretty incredible. And, it was really fun to walk around the bridges. It was about a half kilometer loop, with bridged linking up the platforms around the trees. All the suspension was held up by slings, that in no way were harmful to the trees. The whole system was engineered by some Germans who were actually building an expansion as we were walking around! It’s due to open on Sunday.

We learned that these trees are actually the same as the California Redwoods! They’ve only been growing since 1901, so they’re not nearly as big though. Due to the distance from the equator, our latitude, it’s a very similar climate, and the trees love it! There’s also an abundance of ferns that grow in the area making beautiful canopies below the sequoia branches.

It’s definitely safe to say we enjoyed our trip through the treetops! 

Hobbiton, Middle Earth

On the way from Coromandel to Rotoura, we stopped off in Middle Earth at the movie set for Hobbiton featured in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Truly, it’s only a few minutes outside Matamata, but it actually does feel like you’re transported to the Shire. It helps that our tour guide was fantastic, and our tour group had actual fans!

Ryan was excited that so much of the focus was on the movies. Our guide pointed out the paths of actual scenes, knew how many second shots were on film, shared some of the camera tricks and pointed out Peter Jackson’s extreme attention to the detail of the set.

Outside The Green Dragon

The Mill

Gardens were adorable, even in this season. 

Extra 5 hobbit holes built for accuracy in the Hobbit. 

Our new hobbit home! 

Overlooking Hobbiton with the tree that sealed the deal on this location. 

It was truly great fun being Hobbits for the day! 

Coromandel, NZ - Beach

It’s been a rainy stay on the peninsula, but that didn’t stop us!

We made a trip across to Hot Water Beach. It’s a unique beach on the Pacific. Hot springs run just under the surface of the beach in a few places making the sand toasty warm under your feet. This also means that even on a relatively cold and rainy day, if you dig a hole in the sand, you’ll have very warm water bubbling out of the hot spring. Sounds good, right? Count us in.

We hired a spade for a few dollars and started digging!

We arrived within the best digging time, two hours before and after low tide. Although not the only people there, it really wasn’t too busy. Remember, it is winter here, and rainy, so that draws less of a crowd than the warm, sunny months.

Successfully snug in our hot pool! 

We did brave a dip in the ocean. As expected, it was frigid and jumping back in our hot pool was delightful. It was also pleasant during all the rain that came through. Really, it’s a great spot to be on a rainy day. 

Part 2: Cathedral Cove

We finally went hiking! The loop took about 2 hours. Again, we had pretty good timing. The rain was spotty on our way out, plenty of sun and dryness to for pictures. 

On the way back, it poured. 

Wanaka, NZ - Breweries

Today’s Quest: Day trip up to Wanaka.

We wanted to see a bit more of the South Island than just the Queenstown area, so we headed north toward Wanaka. We made a couple stops on the way. Turns out that round trip, it’s enough time to listen to the first 5 Pink Floyd albums. Good travel tunes!

Stop 1: Arrowtown
We stopped in hopes of a hot breakfast and flat white #5. Success! We stopped at the Unwind Cafe, and it was just as cute as the quaint village that held it. The food was absolutely delicious! Another place that we’d strongly recommend, especially for the pancakes.

Stop 2: Cromwell
It’s pretty much in the valley of the mountains. There were dozens of vineyards that we drove though in the area. There’s a lot of fruit in Cromwell, in general. But that’s it. It was a super quick stop.

Stop 3: Wanaka
Ryan really wanted to hit up some breweries while in the country. They’re harder to find than you’d think, but Wanaka has a couple.
The first one we stopped at was connected to a toy museum. Really, you have to walk through the toy museum to the back of the shop to find the beer. Then, as you’re enjoying a brew, you can look out to the back of the property where they have old cars. I think the name was Wanaka Beerworks, but I’ll have to double check that. Unique location, but they were good for a flight of beer. Bonus: there was a dog!
The second stop had better beer. Rhyme & Reason Brewing. We had another flight best beer around thus far. Location would have been great in the warm months. They’ve got a big garage door on the front that was opened up to let the sun in, but it was only 4C outside.

After the back to back brewery stops, we figured we should find some lunch. So, we headed into the actual town and found Spreight’s. It wasn’t very good. Oh well. We were right on Lake Wanaka, so we went to find #thatWanakaTree. It was a tree. Great scenery though!

Stop 4: Roaring Meg
On the drive back to Queenstown, we stopped off to check out Roaring Meg. The river runs through the mountains along side the highway. It’s hard to see from the road, so we stopped. It was rather unremarkable.

Queenstown, NZ - Coronet Peak

This is it! The #1 reason we planned a few days in the South Island: skiing.

We packed up our gear and headed out to the mountain around 8:30am to be there right when it opened at nine. It was actually most of the same route we took to the hot pools the night before. But, you turn off a bit early and head up into the mountain.

It was incredible (and terrifying) driving up though the cloud cover to the top of the Southern Alps  where Coronet Peak is actually located. There are several stops on the way up to take photos and admire the view.

There are three ski parks in the area that are essentially run by the same company, so the ski pass is good for all the parks. So, we started the day thinking we would ski Coronet Peak for a while, then hop over to The Remarkables and ski that park, too. It didn’t take us long to realize that two parks in one day certainly wasn’t going to happen. (We forgot how exhausting skiing is.)

Coronet Peaks was incredible! We kicked it off on the Meadow Express runs, figuring we should warm up a bit. It’s been a couple months since we skied. Them we moved onto the real deal and took the Coronet Express straight to the top! Our first true run was down M1, a “gentle” back and fourth down the mountain. We eventually made it over to the Greengates Express by taking M1 to Million Dollar and merging with Greengates to get to the bottom.

Map Here >> https://vicomap-cdn.resorts-interactive.com/map/1077

Fun Fact: The trail rating is dependent on the mountain itself. So, the difficulty of “black diamonds” don’t match across ski parks. That said, a black diamond run at Bittersweet back home, is pretty much a beginner hill at Coronet Peak.

So, that said, we stayed on the intermediate (blue) trails all day and were PLENTY challenged on those. We made it a solid five hours (with a couple snack breaks) before our legs couldn’t take it any more. At that point, we weren’t sure we could successfully make it down the slopes. Oh, and Ryan dropped a pole off the lift. That’s how we knew it was surely time to call it a day.

Top of the lift 

Trail to ski- most looked like you could fall right off the edge

Another trail- stay to the right of the fence

Action shot! 

Queenstown, NZ - Ferg & Onsen

Well, it’s another rainy day here in Auckland.

We for a solid night sleep, and were ready to start the day at about 5:00am. We grabbed some breakfast at the hotel, repacked our bags, hopped the bus and returned the the airport. Security was quicker than expected, now we have a solid 1.5 hours before we board.

So, the flight was a bit delayed, but that’s no big deal since we don’t have any place to be until 5:00 this evening. Ryan had a window seat, and it was a seemingly usual flight (we’ve done a few lately). About an hour in, we could look out and see that we’d reached the South Island. It was incredible- ocean, mountains, sunny skies. The closer we got to Queenstown, the more breathtaking the view.

Everywhere we turn, it’s amazing. The mountains are constantly in view. We can’t get over it. And, to add to that - our apartment for the weekend is beautiful, and to Doug’s surprise, actually has the advertised view. Already, we are so excited to have made the extra trip down here. 

We did a lot of reading and planning for this trip, and all blogs about Queenstown said the same thing: Go to Fergburger. Well, knowing Ryan’s love for burgers, it made our must-do list as well.

Well, we went to Fergburger! It’s insanely busy, noisy, crowded. The line was constantly out the door. But, it was so good and totally lived up to the hype. The service was fast, too! We were expecting to wait at least 30 minutes, knowing sometimes it takes much longer. But, we had burgers in 15 flat! It helps that our timing was pretty awesome, too. Still- sweet as.

Ryan is already planning a return trip before we leave Queenstown. I’m good with that.

Sign: “In Ferg We Trust”

Moving past the food now.. we walked around town for a bit. It’s right on the edge of the lake, so it’s absolutely beautiful. Winter Fest has just begun, so it seemed extra lively for a Thursday afternoon. We stumbled upon a few spots of live music while wandering through shops. We’re feeling a bit more acquainted with the town now. 

For the last noteworthy event of the evening- we headed a bit north of Queenstown to Onsen Hot Pools. These are basically hot tubs fed by the natural hot springs in the area.  We scheduled months ago for the sunset hour. So glad we did! We started with a view of the mountains, and ended with the vivid night sky. We only snapped one picture, but you get the idea. 

Oh, and fun part- the only way to cool the water was turning on a pipe that poured ice cold water for, the ceiling. Otherwise, it was very relaxing! 

Auckland, NZ - We made it!

Hello, New Zealand!

We arrived into AKL around 5:00am this morning. The flight was a piece of cake (only 12 from LAX), and customs were a breeze. We were out of the airport in no time. However, this did pose the problem (which we were well aware of), it was way too early to check into the hotel. But, we figured it couldn’t hurt to stop by - best case senecio, they’d be willing to hold our bags for us until the room was ready. 

Good news! The Holiday Inn we stayed at was very willing to hang onto our bags for a few hours. Perfect- after 24 hours lugging them around, we were thrilled to store them safely as we explored the area. 

Now, by this time, it was hardly 7:00am. So, we went to a cafe down the street to grab some drinks (smoothie/coffee). We’re back to Flat White territory. Ryan’s thrilled! And, then we headed out to explore the area. Despite the drizzle, the landscape and nature is beautiful!

We were able to get into the room earlier than expected, which was great news. We were both eager to shower after all the traveling. We relaxed for a bit before heading out to the Post Office for some food. Quality spot- both food and cider were delicious. The beer selection was decent, too.