I fell asleep on the plane still on the runway at LAX late on a Friday night. Tossed and turned as well as one can on a plane, and then woke up in the air near Fiji on Sunday morning, having lost a day to the time zone change.
The sun was starting to rise as we flew into our layover, casting a pink hue everywhere we looked.
A quick layover in Fiji, and then we were boarding our third and final flight to New Zealand, where we spent a day in Auckland relaxing in order to get over any jet lag. We didn’t actually end up resting much, instead walking all over town, eating at a couple restaurants, enjoying Albert and Victoria parks.
The next day, we had a slow-paced morning, ate some yummy breakfast, and then marched up a hill with our luggage for 15 minutes to our car rental.
We had to re-adjust ourselves to driving on the opposite side of the road while winding through traffic to get out of Auckland, but we were making good timing, so we stopped off at Hamilton Gardens to enjoy a stroll and lunch.
The main event of the day, though, was our next stop – Hobbiton. Showing up, I was shocked by the number of tourists there. I knew it was a popular tourist attraction, but I had assumed that the set tours would prevent it from being total chaos. Instead, we could barely walk without bumping into 15 selfie sticks or a large group cutting in front of us, and then all of a sudden, we were catching up with the group in front of us, and then being sandwiched in by the group behind us.
Nevertheless, Hobbiton was even more beautiful and impressive in person than I had expected, and I’m glad we did it.
It was sunny, and awfully hot, but the rolling green hills and little hobbit holes were worth all the trouble.
The tour ended at the Green Dragon, where we got to enjoy a beer that is unique to Hobbiton, the highlight of the tour for Anthony.
We drove the rest of the way to Rotorua, where we had time for a dinner on Eat Street, a stroll through Kuirau Park, and a soak in our hot tub (it was much cooler after the sun went down) before we went to bed.
The next morning, we drove through golden fog as the sun rose. After a 20 minute drive, we were at the car park for Rainbow Mountain, and we hiked up to the summit with no one else in sight. It was very steep in places, but it was mostly under the cover of trees so that we didn’t get overheated.
It took about an hour to reach the top, and the 360 degree views were wonderful.
Or at least I thought so. Anthony is spoiled and jaded, and when I asked him if he wanted his picture taken there, he said “Nah, I’ll wait until we are in the South Island and have better views.” I gave him a hard side-eye.
The trek back down took another 40ish minutes, and then we drove to Kerosene Creek, a geothermal river that you can bathe in and enjoy the greenery surrounding you. The water temperature was perfect, and we found a spot next to a pretty little waterfall to hang out.
Once we were officially refreshed, we drove to Orakei, a geothermal park that just so happens to be next to a gorgeous lake.
We paid our entrance fee, hopped on the ferry to get across the water, and then walked around the park, melting in the hot sun and the steam from the geysers and steam vents and bubbling mud pools.
Even after traveling around Iceland twice, this was probably our favorite geothermal destination. The surroundings were beautiful, the colors of the ground unique, there was a cave to walk down to, and while hot, everything looks prettier in the sunshine.
Our final stop of this tour was Huka Falls, a pretty small but very powerful waterfall that is the most perfect shade of blue. The water rushed down the river to it, and then went gushing over the edge. We loved it. It was an easy stop with a high reward.
That evening, back in Rotorua, we went to the Redwoods, to walk the free trails there. They have a Redwoods Treewalk, where you can walk along bridges higher up, but it’s around $25 per person, can have a long line, and then you’re stuck between other groups of people. We decided walking on our own through the grounds was plenty good.
A night at home, relaxing in the hot tub and reading was the end of our North Island stay before a very early flight the following morning.