Tuesday- fly from Honolulu at 9 am
Wednesday- arrive in New Zealand 5:30 pm
Pick up rental car check in hotel- The first drive was a little nerve-racking driving on the opposite side of the road, but Ben grew more confident in his driving ability and remembered his days back in Australia.
We always like to check out the local grocery store for goodies and snacks. We were lucky to grab some delicious peaches and other fruit that we kept with us for most of the trip. Without any plans for this night, we checked into our hotel and went looking for dinner... which was actually right next to our hotel.
Dinner at Indian food place. Small portions, but very tasty chicken Korma... at least we thought so!
Thursday- hotel breakfast- and it was delicious! Ben was impressed with the hearty spread- meat, potatoes, fruit and yogurt AND all you can drink juices. After 2-3 full plates, we felt like we had gotten our money-worth.
After packing up our bags and checking out of the hotel, we started to make our drive toward Auckland, but I had realized I didn't exactly pack enough "regular" clothes to wear around. So Ben graciously allowed us to try to find some capris/outdoor pants that would work for me. Even though it was summer, we didn't feel like it was very hot. After going to 3 stores with no luck at all, I finally found a pair that would work!
We then made our way to a park nearby called One Tree Hill and walked along a nice paved path uphill to an obelisk memorial monument. There once was a tree that stood on top of the hill, hence the name, but that tree is no longer there.
After our delightful walk we went to the Auckland war museum for a healthy stay of 3 hours. There were such great exhibits of Maori and other island artifacts. I would have loved to have someone explain the significance and importance of the many tools, weapons, and jewelry.
It was after our museum visit that we drove further northwest to where one of Ben's mission companion lives with his family- (Elder) Phillip Skeen.
It was such a fun reunion for Ben and Phil, they hugged and shared mission stories. He also has 5 kids that were just as excited to see us like we were family that hadn't visited in a while. We played toys, watched some video clips, and had a great time. Phil knows food and was very excited to provide a local kiwi feast of the best fish-n-chips and meat pie dinner. And for dessert- hokey pokey ice cream, a sweet vanilla ice cream with BB-size crunchy toffee bits. The Whitmore chocolate bar and chocolate milk was especially creamy and delicious! Chocolate tastes better in New Zealand!
*After putting the kids to bed, we stayed up and talked until 2 a.m.! It is so fun to have friends that you just met and be able to do that!
Friday - This day started with the favorite breakfast bakery with Skeen. We passed at least 6 other bakeries on our drive that morning, but Phillip told us this particular one was "the best" around. After our sample of all the flavors that Phillip suggested, we agreed they were all delicious and couldn't eat another bite. After packing up and saying goodbye, we were ready to start our drive to Coromandel. After leaving the main Auckland area, the roads changed from straight to curvy, many lanes down to 2, and it was quite the windy drive through the mountain to get to the Coromandel peninsula . About 2 hours of driving (and an extra 20 minutes further than we needed to go) we made our stop at cathedral cove trail parking lot. We got all ready, but after looking at our time and the low tide for hot water beach, we knew we didn't have time to do both. We quickly went back to the car and had a quick drive to hot water beach area. Thankfully the lady that we rented a shovel from gave us a really great tip about feeling with our feet along the sand for a very warm spot and to start digging in that area... and thanks to her we found a really good spot. It took some time to dig and let the warm fill up our little sandy pool, but we realized that most other people weren't so lucky-- they were sitting in cold water while ours was burning hot! One of our family sayings is: Everything is better when you share-- so we started inviting strangers to come and join us. It quickly turned into a party with people from all over the world.
Our dinner that night was from a little shop in town and we ordered fish n chips and local burger egg and beat root. We took some time to call the kids and everyone seemed to be doing fine.
After dinner, we started our drive to Air B&B called Hill View Farm- which was about 1.45 hr drive. We arrived before sunset and the area was beautiful farm country. We loved the rolling hills and quiet spot on the farm. The owners even left fresh milk in the fridge for us, which went perfectly with our peaches for breakfast.
Saturday-leave farm hill view
Drive to Rotorua (2 hour drive)
Kairua park market- eat different foods
Walk around park sulfer mud and lakes
Skyline luge 7 rides gondola
Redwood forest walk/ treetop walk
Dinner eat street - Tunisian food- kebab
* we enjoyed our food so much, on the drive home we were talking about how good it was and suddenly remembered that we forgot to pay! We quickly turned around and then went into the restaurant. The owner acted surprised and confused, but when he discovered the reason for a return he was very grateful- “you are a very honest man” and he gave Ben a cookie for free.
Sunday - not the best bakery and meat pie
4 hr mt. Ebike (awesome!)
Blue lake/green lake lookout
Rest back at bnb
Okere falls walk from house (2 hour)
Indian spice for dinner- the best!
Night light walk treetop redwood forest
Monday- white water rafting Okere Falls
Lunch and nap at house
Drive and swim at kerosene creek (hot river)
Huka falls Bee store/ ice cream
Craters of the moon walk
Grocery store and dinner (pizza)
Can’t find Tony’s B&B and then we finally do!
Get packed forTongariro alpine crossing
Tuesday- Park car and take shuttle
Rainy windy first half/ wet cold finger and toes but hot body
Clouds clear for emerald pools
Hiking poles life saver
Downhill bad on my knees
Sun shine and miles down to car body hurt especially grandma knees
Soup and bread from Tony at B&B
Wednesday- Waitomo
Sore knees and body and hard time sleeping
Black water rafting tubing and glow worm caves soup and bagel and hot shower after
Hobbiton Movie Set and ginger beer
Dinner kebab and rice dinner
Hay shed B&B *our map gps isn’t taking us correctly to our destinations. Some frustration with being “lost” but we eventually figure it out
Thursday- drive to Hamilton temple view
Mamas donuts and church history museum
Pokeno ice cream and fish and chips
Meet Jordan Lemalu at park
Go the see Skeen family
Friday- bakery and botanical garden walk
Head to downtown Auckland
Souvenir shopping and people watching
Drive along coast yummy gelato and gross pasta by the beach
Grab more chocolate and goodies from store
Gas up rental car/turn in and head to airport
Take off Friday night and land Friday morning in Honolulu
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