New Zealand: The North Island Part 1 (From Aukland to Rotorua)

Well I am writing this when I am now back in Australia, two weeks after the trip is done!  But nonetheless I am writing this as a memory to what has happened and a for all you out there who are interested in traveling to this amazing country!  I will start in the North Island and then work my way down the island and finally go to the South Island.  This blog will be different from my other ones in that I went with my mother.  This means several things:  I did not plan nearly everything and therefore don't remember exactly what tours and hotels we stayed at, this is by no means a backpacking blog (it was a nice trip and definitely was worth it), and finally there will be pictures of both of us (which will be a treat I am sure!)  Let me now start with the first couple days!


Well I flew from Perth to Auckland with a two night stop in Melbourne! I LOVED Melbourne, I would definitely recommend EVERYONE going to this amazing city.  The people were so friendly, the food delicious, and the vibe amazing.  I stayed at a pretty great hostel right in the middle of everything.  It was called United Backpackers and it was great, clean and everyone was friendly!  What more could you ask for in a hostel?  Anyway this is an aside, now back to New Zealand!

I arrived in the Aukland airport in the afternoon.  My mother graciously picked my up and we immediately rented a car, which was the big decision for this trip!  We were driving!!!  This was a big step mostly because we had to drive on the left side of the road.  Definitely an experience.  Although for anyone who is wondering, New Zealand is a great country to do this in.  The roads are mainly two lanes and everyone is friendly.  There are only a couple of major cities and those were easy enough to navigate through, although we didn't do Aukland at all!

Anyway the first night we drove a little while away from the airport and had a nice steak dinner.  We slept at a small motel off the highway which was convenient for our early start the next day.  We were heading to Hobbiton and then Rotorua the next night!

Hobbiton was quite an adventure!

Those of you familiar with the Hobbit Movie or the LOTR must recognize this house!

The amount of detail they put in this little world was amazing!  I simply expected the hobbits to walk out of their hobbit holes and ask us what we were doing here!  Or see them walking around in the gardens picking  fruit.  Being there brought the characters and their lifestyles to life.  You could see why hobbits would be peaceful beings who simply wanted to eat.  When I was walking around there that's what I wanted too! Although this was a little pricey (75 per person)  it was really cool and our guide was very knowledgeable.  She told us lots of stories about the actors and especially Peter Jackson who is definitely a perfectionist!
We finished the day at Hobbiton in the Green Dragon for a nice Apple Cider!

The Bar at the Green Dragon!