After more than three weeks in New Zealand, Mr. GeoK was fairly comfortable driving on the "wrong" side of the road - or so he thought! As we approached the outskirts of Auckland via State Highway 1 (SH1) mid-afternoon on a Wednesday, traffic volumes picked up significantly. Tackling one lane bridges and roundabouts in New …
Our last Lord of the Rings experience in New Zealand was a visit to the privately owned and operated Hobbiton. The ongoing opportunity for LOTR fans to visit Hobbiton came about when bad weather delayed the dismantling of the Hobbiton film set long enough that locals kept asking to come by for a quick look …
With just a handful of days remaining before our extended New Zealand vacation ended, we headed off to White Island via Eurocopter AS355 Twin Squirrel. As with our helicopter excursion to Milford Sound and our heli-hiking experience at Franz Josef Glacier, we expected to drive to the heliport to begin our day’s adventure. But our …
Why was the Tongariro Crossing at the top of our list of “must do” activities while on the North Island? Guidebooks and websites are unanimous: the Tongariro Crossing is New Zealand’s premier day hike; It’s located in Tongariro National Park, a dual UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of the park’s outstanding volcanic features as …
Continue reading Hiking New Zealand – Tongariro Alpine Crossing
We usually opt for a fair bit of structure when we go on vacation. We plan some sort of excursion, hike, museum visit or tour most days, leaving an open day every 5 or 6 days to allow for extra rest, to deal with any urgent business that crops up back at home, to do …
Continue reading Hiking New Zealand – Cape Kidnappers Gannet Colonies