Prelude:

We got to sleep in a little before we caught our 1pm flight out of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport out of Honolulu. We chased the sun to Kiritimati aka Christmas Island (which apparently is an amazing sports fishing destination), and then onto Fiji. We deplaned and took a short taxi from the Fiji airport over to the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort in Nadi. We had officially crossed the International Date Line, so now we were 17-18 hours AHEAD of the US. Time Travel Baby! We got there in time to hit the buffet and grab a couple of drinks, and then we crashed. In the morning we took the taxi back to the airport and after making a rookie mistake of not believing our own research, we overpaid for some Australian visas to Fiji Air, and headed on to our real destination.

It’s time for the most important question in Anne and I’s travel relationship… does this 10 hour layover, where all we really saw was our resort at night time, count as visiting the country? (We left the airport. It counts. - Anne)

Here’s a breakdown of how far we flew in a little over 24 hours:

Honolulu to Kiritimati = 1,338 miles
Kiritimati to Fiji = 2,146 miles
Fiji to Auckland = 1,336 miles
Total = 4,820 miles

New York to San Diego is 2,446 miles. We flew across the USA twice!

We landed in Auckland, New Zealand early in the afternoon, and grabbed a rental from Enterprise. I hear that Auckland is a lot of fun, but we wouldn’t be finding out on this trip, because Anne had a pretty sweet road trip planned.

We grabbed a car from Enterprise, and drove an hour south to Hamilton. It’s a cute small town with lots of greenery around it, and we even saw some people on horseback in the bike lane. We stayed in a charming 3 bedroom AirBnB in town. We were able to grab groceries and had some much needed salads for dinner.

After a lazy breakfast the next morning, we drove down to Matamata to visit the Hobbiton Movie Set! The creators of the Lord of the Ring carved out 14 acres on a local family’s farm to create the sets for the Shire.

The sets were deconstructed after the initial movies, but when it came time to film the Hobbit Trilogy, the farm’s owners cut a deal with the producers that the movie sets would be made permanent, and it’s now a great tourist attraction.

Green Dragon Inn landscape from across the pond

We jumped on a bus that takes you from the entrance to the actual set. Josh was our tour guide and he was very knowledgeable about all things Matamata, Tolkien, and more.

He guided us through the various sets, which included the Shire, pumpkin patches, giant trees, the various sized hobbit doors (they built them in different sizes based on the scenes they were shooting), the Green Dragon and more.

It’s really hard to explain just how idyllic this locale was. The sky, the land, the hills, the flora and fauna, everything was just stunning.

After the official tour, they cut you loose, and we wandered all over the place taking pictures, and interacting with the set. We had beers at the Green Dragon and chatted up locals and other travelers. It really was a perfect “tourist” day.

Green Dragon Exterior — The Green Dragon

Of course they had a really big souvenir shop, The Shire Store, ready for us when we got off the bus back at the ticketing center. This was a little less aggressive of a souvenir shop than I’m used to since I live in Florida with all the theme parks. Very laid back, but still good things to check out. There was also a cafe.

Shire's Rest Exterior — The Shire’s Rest Store and Cafe

When we got back to Hamilton, Anne made some spaghetti and enjoyed the peace and quiet of our accommodations.

The next day we decided to visit the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. We booked a tour with Blackwater Rafting. Unfortunately, they don’t allow you to capture footage in the caves, and honestly, it wouldn’t have done the place justice anyway. One thing I’ve learned living on Florida’s Space Coast is that it is very hard to capture the beauty of bioluminescent organisms doing their thing, and you really have to see it to appreciate the beauty.

Our group was given tubes and we did a short hike through the woods while our guides Sara and Wayn told us all about the area and the caves. We eventually plopped into the river on our tubes and were guided down into the caves. It was a great experience, and I really can’t recommend it enough. The worms were glowing all over the place, the cave was nice and dark, but you never really felt claustrophobic (and I’m not a small guy). Seriously, if you ever make it to New Zealand’s north island, do it.

We checked out of the BnB and hopped back on the road for a jaunt down to Tūrangi, a town just south of Lake Taupō. We stopped at a place called the “Enchanted Cafe”, but I’m not even going to link to them because they served me a pre-cooked, tasteless patty in a land known for its beef products! Sacrilege!

Volcanic Activity Center Exterior — Volcanic Activity Center

We then went and checked out the Volcanic Activity Center. This is one of those great hokey side of the road spots from the 70s/80s that is so cheesy it’s good. It’s basically like Florida’s Dinosaur World (if you haven’t gone, and you’re anywhere near central Florida, check it out). The VAC had lots of educational information about the geological characteristics of the area, and a lot of it actually came in handy on our adventures going forward. I honestly didn’t realize the area was still so geothermically active.

They also had a great “Earthquake Simulator” that was basically a bench that shakes. There was a really sad geyser simulation. Unfortunately, when I was looking for a link, I found out that it’s been permanently closed. Hopefully, someone resurrects it eventually. Tragedy.

Huka Honey Hive Entrance — The entrance to the Huka Honey Hive

Our next roadside attraction was the Huka Honey Hive and Mead, and to my great pleasure, they had mead! I hadn’t had much experience with mead before this, which is funny because I love boozes of all types, but I’m glad this was my first real experience. The Honey Hive also had lots of educational materials, and tons of other honey based products. Even live bees!

Our last adventure of the day was the Huka Falls. We parked the car and hiked down to a nice overlook of the falls, and I have never seen water so naturally blue in my life. Seriously, I’m going to show these pictures with as little editing as possible, because outside of the ocean in the Caribbean, I have never seen water this blue.

We hiked around the area a little to catch the falls and river from different spots, and then we drove along the coast of Lake Taupō and finally made our way to our next home, the Anglers Paradise Motel. It’s a charming old school motor lodge, reminiscent of places characters stayed in in movies from the 70s or 80s. That was a big theme for me in New Zealand. Very throw back to what you think about America being back when you were younger/before you were born.

The next day we drove over to Mangatepopo Car Park and hiked a little on the Tongariro Crossing. The entire crossing is 19.4 km each way, and take an estimated 6-8 hours, so I think you can guess we weren’t about that life. I’m sure my hiking friends will beat me up after I finish this series because of all the hikes we never finished, but sorry, not sorry.

Tongariro Nation Park hiking signage with various distances

The crossing includes the green and blue springs, and Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe, aka Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings Movies. We saw the mountains, never made it to the springs, but we did make it to Soda Falls, which were very cool. We were there in what would have been their late Summer, early Fall, so we were still able to witness some great flora and fauna in the area. No regrets!