New Zealand - Sweet As! - Roaming DINKs

In May of 2018, we went on our belated honeymoon – a 17 day trip of our dreams to New Zealand. The plan was simple. We would fly into Auckland, rent a car and drive all over the country. Dusty spent months planning to make sure we saw and did a little bit of everything. To call it a trip of a lifetime is an understatement.

First things first, New Zealand is a long way away. We were fortunate enough to find cheap tickets via Air New Zealand direct from Houston to Auckland – a 14 hour flight! On the plus side, complimentary wine.

We split our trip pretty evenly between the North and South Islands. Moving between the two islands is easy via a short ferry ride. Strangely enough, a lot of locals from the North Island had never been to the South, and vice versa. Both are breathtakingly beautiful and have to be seen to believe!

Waiheke Island

We dropped off our bags at the hotel and took the ferry to Waiheke Island for wine tasting. It was pouring rain when we landed. But like magic, the skies turned crystal clear blue as soon as we arrived on the island. Turns out our first outing was one of the most important — we discovered that we love Sauvignon Blanc! With a very favorable exchange rate, we enjoyed a bottle (or two) of Sauvignon Blanc with dinner every night!

We booked a guide, Wayne, who had the perfect mix of hospitality, knowledge and dry Kiwi wit. The trip included three wineries, giving us a great introduction to New Zealand wines. We foolishly declined to purchase any wine directly from the vineyards. But after a few days back home, we missed NZ wine so badly! We called Wayne and begged him to ship us a few cases of our favorites. We now have a wine fridge full of NZ wines we break out for special occasions.

To make the wine tasting even sweeter, we were joined by a lone Canadian. Unsurprisingly, he was incredibly kind and made us laugh with his adorable accent.

Waitomo

Over the next two days, we drove around, took in a few sights and got acclimated to our new time zone. We planned to go sky diving in the Bay of Islands on Day 2. But, our visit was off season and the place was closed. No matter. There were still a ton of cool things to see.

After a bit of sightseeing in the Bay of Islands, we drove to Waitomo. We scheduled our trip in the off season and it was nearly deserted in Waitomo. We were the only people staying in our hotel, which coupled with the interesting decor, was a bit creepy. Since it was winter, we naturally signed up for the 5-hour Black Abyss “adventure” – abseiling down into the cave, zip lining, climbing underground waterfalls, tubing through freezing cold waters, and viewing glow worms (who knew they were a real thing!) We had a private guide (no one else was crazy enough to sign up) and could not have had a better time.

We were the only guests, except for the ghosts

Remind Me – Just What Are Hobbits?

Confession – I had never watched Lord of the Rings prior to our trip. New Zealanders are crazy about the series, as a lot of it was filmed in the country. Dusty on the other hand has read the books and seen all the movies. So Hobbiton was a must!

The movie set is really cool (but crowded). The movies don’t fully show just how beautiful the countryside is. Even if you don’t really get the movies, the scenery is beautiful and they serve flat whites in the cafe. While waiting for the tour to start, I enjoyed a flat white from the little cafe that overlooks the farm.

Rotorua

Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity – I’m talking hot springs, bubbling mud pools, and steam seeping from the earth. As soon as you’re in the area, you can smell the trademark sulfur. What a cool place! We were blessed with another blue sky day, so we headed straight for the top to get great views of the city.

That night we took in a traditional Maori dinner and experience featuring a cultural lesson and live haka! This was our first exposure to the Maori culture and we were blown away. We went in knowing very little about the Maori people and left wanting to learn more. I highly recommend all visitors take in the culture of the very important indigenous people.

Next, we took a day trip to visit Orakei Korako – a sprawling geothermal park. And because we are who we are, our booking included transportation by jet boat at approximately 90 km/h!