The country of New Zealand known for Rugby (The All Blacks), Sheep, and the ever so famous Haka Dance, is a country that boasts so much more and should be proud of it. As it is way DOWN UNDER, located below Australia, it is separated by North and South Islands. As I have talked to a few people and they have said to spend my time on the South Island, I thought I would go ahead and do that…
However I did want to fly into Auckland to see the city and visit the ever so famous Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings movies and Hobbit movie.
A great company and guide to use for your time in Auckland or New Zealand for that matter is Wanasa Tours. A small tour company run out of Auckland owned by Mustafa Almubarak will give you a great feel for the country. He has over 10 years of service here and his tours are catered to every type of traveler as he helps everyone choose what they want and how much to pay. A very honest man and wants people to enjoy coming to this great country. You can speak or book tours at the following links:
Wanasa Tours- wanasa.nz@gmail.com and www.wanasatours.nz
Hobbiton is located about 2-2.5 hours from Auckland and is easily done on a day trip from Auckland. As you go way out into the country to start the tour, you will notice the land changing with smooth rolling hills, while the cow and sheep graze peacefully in the pasture. As you arrive at Hobbiton, you will take a guide around the main set where the movie was filmed (inside the Hobbit houses are in the studio), as the area has remained virtually unchanged from the movie. During the tour you can learn facts about the famous movies including how they shot everything in the village… Toward the end of the tour, you can stop into the Green Dragon Inn and enjoy a couple of cups of local Ale, Stout, Cider, or Ginger Beer that is sold nowhere else in the world. …
Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand, holding 3 million people which is half of the population of the country. A quick stop to the ice cream shop to try some very interesting fused ice cream as well as the marina, and to a local art exhibit entitled the House of 1000 Doors is all you need in a day to keep you busy…..
Flying down to the South Island I booked a hop on and hop off bus. The first stop was the beautiful small town of Kaikoura, world famous for Sperm Whale watching as well as dolphin watching.
This may be one of the better places I have seen for whale watching in the world as we were able to see three different Sperm Whales and also different schools of Common Dolphins, the indigenous Hector’s Dolphins and the famous acrobatic Dusky Dolphins. The pictures here are amazing as the dolphins are very inquisitive and love to be around humans.
The next morning i went on another dolphin watch and it was spectacular as not only did we see more schools of the same, but they were even more acrobatic than before!!! This is defiantly something that you do not want to miss when you are in this part of the world.
Driving up the east coast up to Abel Tasman National Park via the North South Island ferry terminal, through the beautiful scenery, we ended up at the National Park. Very famous for its sea kayaking, hiking, as well as sailing, this place boasts some of the best scenery in New Zealand. The sea kayaking was amazing as was the sailing as we spotted families of the fur seal on the rocks of some of the small islands.
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As we head down the west coast we stopped in a small town of Westport which is famous for its surfing with people coming to try their hand at it. The town was beautiful as it reminded me of western cape of South Africa or small town 1950’s USA., the highlight here was hanging out with the coal miners at the local pub
Mind you now, the scenery in all of New Zealand is probably some of the top scenery in the world and I believe these pictures prove it….from beautiful beaches to cascading mountains, to the endless fjords, to rain forests, this place has it all…
On the west coast there lies a hotel with a great bar and food with everything you could imagine….Lake Mahinapua Hotel has been welcoming people for over a 100 years with their spot on accommodations and great drinks and food. Oh yea and my first costume party in years which in dressed up like a Cholo!!!
Franz Josef glacier is one of the most magnificent displays of glaciers I have seen in the world. It is right up there with Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina. Originally I wanted to do the hike up but because of weather I decided to do the all so famous helicopter ride up with time on the ice to just enjoy the great outdoors….
Likewise in the area their is a beautiful lake called Lake Mapourika which boasts some of the best scenery around and a brilliant boat cruise to see some of the plants and animals that are indigenous only to New Zealand…
Of course it is never a holiday without some off the beaten trek stuff. This hotel which was suddenly abandoned a few years ago because of a flood is something like out of post apocalyptic movie. A few doors were left open which led myself and another to go out and about and rummage through what looked like a proper beach on the bottom floor. You can notice how fast people left as postcards were still scattered with all of the glasses and mail still in place. We went into the servants quarters and found cassette tapes and old memorabilia from years past. Truly a great time!!!!
It was a great coach ride through the southern island and three people made it very fun for me, Arias, Ben, who I had beers with and are also coach drivers, as well as Stacy who works at nearby Rainforest Lodge in Franz Josef. Had some good food and drinks (possibly too many)…
If you take a trip to New Zealand, two places not to be missed is Queenstown and Wanaka. Known as the adventure capital of New Zealand, Queenstown is one of the prettiest cities I have been around as is Wanaka. The scenery is stunning and I got a chance to catch up with Grant and Andi who i spent 9 months with on the Africa trip and their lovely piece of property. What better way to enjoy the great outdoors than beer and BBQ next to the river on their beautiful land…
And of course if you want to see what New Zealand is famous for then you take the rather long bus ride to Milford Sound. The scenery here is absolutely stunning with dolphins and seals dotting the beautiful landscape. This is one of the most picturesque places I have ever been and the weather is always temperamental, so you must go with an open mind….
