We have an itinerary! First Light Travel (and Shelley) have been wonderful. We're only visiting the North Island of NZ this time, and I think we've managed to fit in everything we wanted to do. We'll be driving from Wellington to Auckland over 14 days, and staying in lovely hotels, motels and B&Bs on the way.
In Wellington, we'll be visiting Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum of New Zealand. They have a super cool looking exhibit on the history of contraception that I am completely jazzed about. It looks like a wonderful museum, so we're excited.
Then we get a LOTR locations tour! Cannot wait. So many Hobbit fans in our house. Leaving Wellington, we'll be heading to Tongariro national park to take the kids on some trail hikes (or "tramps," as the Kiwis call them) and hopefully getting some amazing landscape photos. Also Mt. Ngauruhoe - the mountain that played Mt Doom! Then on to lake Taupo for a jetboat ride and maybe some more hiking. I'm hoping to hit up Craters of the Moon Park.
Hobbiton will be on the way to our next stop - Rotorua, where we'll be spending 3 days learning about the Maori culture, Kiwis (birds this time) and New Zealands geothermal landscapes. There's so great stuff for the kids here, too, like a luge ride with gorgeous views and the opportunity to Zorb down the mountainside. New Zealand is a haven for adventure travelers! Then on to Coromandel and a visit to Cathedral Cove and a glass bottom/snorkeling tour and some beach relaxing before we head to Auckland. We'll wind down here with some more marine sightseeing and a private tour of Waiheke Island (and wine tasting, which means wine buying for us!) before we head home to Tokyo.
Two weeks is going to go by so quickly! I've started to think packing, so next up is my packing plan. How to take a family of four on a two week holiday with airline weight restrictions and making sure it all fits in the rental car trunk. Whew! We shall see!
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