I have dreamt of visiting New Zealand since I was little. My mom was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and she is the only one of my immediate family that has seen it. We have a lot of extended family still there.
I wanted to see as much of my family as possible and as much of both islands. We only had two weeks and managed to see 5+ cities and both islands! This was not our usual vacation. Normally I prefer to get a decent hotel and sit on the beach doing nothing for a week (see our Hawaii vacation here, where I literally review all the beaches we laid on 😬😂). This was instead a really busy but special and memorable trip.
The trip is split into two blog posts so they aren’t too long with photos. (The south island post is here.) I didn’t take as many photos as I would have liked (I always feel that way). However I think I did do an awesome job balancing having my camera out while also unplugging to soak things in on this trip, so that was nice! Sometimes having my camera out helps me stay present, sometimes it doesn’t. I tried to be really aware of when I used both my phone and ‘big’ camera. 🤷🏼♀️
AUCKLAND
We took a direct flight from Tokyo to Auckland and began with a trip to see my mom’s cousin Kate and her sweet family! We watched them work on their bee hives (Edgar actually also helped, I just watched 😂), swam in the pool, took a walk on the Mission Bay boardwalk, visited the Auckland Domain Wintergarden, and took a trip to Motuihe Island in their super cool boat that has wheels.
Seriously. They have a boat with wheels that can drive up on the beach. 🤯 Edgar got the boat with wheels in focus in the background of the blurry photo of Emme and I below! 😂Emme had both her first pool and ocean swim experiences on this part of the trip so I made sure to pull my camera out for those!
One thing that really impressed me during our trip to New Zealand is how the majority of folks are very conscious of the environment. It is a very clean country and everyone seems pretty aware of their footprint and how to do their part to take care of the land. Also it was SO EASY for me to eat vegetarian. 🙌 Everywhere we went had vegetarian and vegan options. I have never had it easier! One of many reasons I really didn’t want to leave. Plus meeting all of my extended family there was so special! I loved getting to know Kate’s family.
A PIT-STOP IN HOBBITON
The one thing Edgar really wanted to do in New Zealand was any Lord of the Rings tour we could find. Hobbiton was an easy stop on our drive to Lake Taupo to see my Great Aunt Di. It was actually a very informative tour, and the set is beautiful. Also our tour guide came up and thanked me at one point for “having such a beautiful smile on my face” every time he looked over at us. He then said my happiness was infectious and thanked me for it so I mean now I love Hobbiton. 😂
LAKE TAUPO
We only had one night in Taupo as we made our way down to Gisborne. Looking at a map, it made sense to drive from Auckland to Gisborne and stop in Hobbiton and Taupo on the way. My family kept telling me to do Auckland, fly to Gisborne, then fly to Taupo and then the south island.
Guys, when locals tell you to do something one way, do it. The drive was SO WINDY and long! It was pretty scenic. But for someone who gets carsick easily and had to sit in the back to keep the baby entertained, the windy roads weren’t that fun for me.
I was feeling so nauseous by the end when we stopped at the actual lake Taupo to dip our feet in I didn’t pull my camera out! The long drive we did on the south island was much better. If you are in the north island, just fly around. 😂Anyways we only had time to check out the lake and then see Huka Falls before we continued onto Gisborne. My family had also recommend seeing the Craters of the Moon National Park area but we didn’t get a chance!
GISBORNE
Gisborne is a beach-meets-farming town in New Zealand and so beautiful! We did three nights in Gisborne to see my Great Aunt Jenny and Uncle Tim and their family. They are farmers and operate an orchard as well as sheep and cattle. They are amazing. It was really interesting for us to be able to see this side of the family in their element. Jenny and I did a boardwalk walk every morning and stopped at local cafes for coffee, while Edgar experienced the orchards in the am! We had a nice driving tiki tour and loved spending time meeting this side of the family.
I had really grand visions of awesome close-up portraits of sheep before our trip. Well. All I brought on the trip was a 35mm lens and let me tell ya, sheep are literally programmed to run away from people. 🤣 That’s why you can shepherd them around. I tried on several different occasions on this trip without success lol. I am unfortunately not a sheep whisperer.
We did however get to watch my cousin drench hundreds of lambs (spray them down to protect them from flies) which was fascinating! He has over 4,000 lambs to take care of! 😱The lambs are typically kept and rotated in large paddocks. These are just photos of the process James goes through the herd them up into pens for drenching. They need to be packed in tight to make sure he gets them all sprayed and taken care of. The land their animals actually live on is so beautiful and way more space than I can even quantify (see last two photos).
So to recap, the north island was magical and full of meeting family. From Gisborne we then flew to the south island! That half of the trip can be seen here. 💕