Previously we had done trips East to the Coromandel, and up to the Northland. With Sarah and Cindy’s sister Sandy here visiting, we took off during Max’s school holiday to tour South. (Pictures and more details will be available soon – Check back for an update.)
We drove South from Auckland, through Matamata, Rotorua, Taupo, Palmerston North, Masterton, to Wellington. We took the ferry across to the South Island, then the train down to Christchurch for a couple days. Then we returned by train and ferry to Wellington for a couple days, then up the West coast to New Plymouth, and then back to Auckland.
Highlights included:
- Riding the luge, kiwi encounter, Maori cultural experience, and Wai-O-Tapu thermal area in Rotorua.
- The awesome Huka Falls and watching bungy jumpers in Taupo.
- Manawatu Gorge and Te Apiti Wind Farm between Palmerston North and Woodville.
- Enjoyed walking around Christchurch.
- Stunning rail/ferry trip back to Wellington.
- Tour through the restored and earthquake-reinforced Parliament buildings.
- Seeing the beautifully restored Embassy Theatre, and experiencing its leather seats, fantastic screen, and awesome audio.
- Seeing Mount Taranaki and enjoying the Coastal Walkway in New Plymouth.
Special Lord of the Rings highlights included:
- Seeing the Hobbiton set on a farm near Matamata.
- Brief stop (in the pouring rain!) at the location of Rivendell at Kaitoke Regional Park.
- Running into Richard Taylor in the lobby of Weta Digital.
- Going to the Lord of the Rings exhibit at Te Papa.
- Seeing the beautifully restored Embassy Theatre where Return of the King premiered.
We really lucked out on the weather, considering it’s the middle of winter here. The only sight we missed was seeing Mount Ruapehu along Desert Road. It was sunny in Rotorua, showers and mountains clouded over on Desert Road, just missed heavy rains in Masterton, though flooding caused us to have to detour around town. Pouring rain once over the Rimutukas and down to Wellington. The Interislander ferry was cancelled that day due to severe weather in Cook Strait. But by the next morning when we were due to catch it, it had calmed considerably, so our crossing was probably calm by Cook Strait standards. Pouring rain on the other side. But then sunshine in Christchurch, stunningly gorgeous weather for the train ride back up and ferry back over to Wellington. Mostly decent weather in Wellington (a bit windy, of course!). Clouds obscured Mount Taranaki on the way to New Plymouth, but the next day was clear and gorgeous sunshine, to see the mountain, walk along the shore, and drive back to Auckland.
We weren’t quite so lucky with booking places to stay, though it all turned out okay in the end. We hadn’t booked ahead of time, wanting the flexibility, and not thinking there’d be any problem in the middle of winter! Well it turned out that Palmerston North was booked up with teachers in town for recertification exams, Wellington was booked up with hockey tournaments, and Christchurch was booked up for a big rugby game between the All Blacks and the Aussies! We did manage to find places, but it definitely took time and caused some unexpected stress along the way. (We considered canceling the the whole South Island part of the trip at one point, between bad weather canceling the ferry and Christchurch being booked up.)