We drove to Vancouver early on the 12th. Originally the flight was supposed to leave Vancouver at 7pm, but was delayed due to Cyclone Gabrielle until 1:30am. So right into Vancouver for Ramen, then a visit with the Judges and then Mackenzie and her kids. John dropped us off at the airport. And we waited.
February 14th
When we landed in Auckland it was pretty windy and had a rough touch down. Went through customs and then bussed to Domestic terminal where we found out that our flight to Wellington was cancelled. Waited there for news. Huge line up for people trying to rebook. Finally we just booked a hotel and another flight out online. Went to a cute motel in the New Market area. I went for a walk and saw remnant’s of their cyclone preparedness.
Went to a brand new mall a couple blocks from the hotel. They had a really cool roof top restaurant area. Lots of open areas, and trees. Had dinner there not realizing it was Valentines day. We were wondering why it was so busy. Next day wandered around the New Market area which was really cool.
1pm got a cab to the airport to catch our flight to Wellington.
Of course that flight was delayed as well, but only for about 45 minutes
Very excited to be greeted by Gandolf…and Lauren and the Clees…
Short night at Clee’s; even had an earthquake!
February 16th
Spent some time with Felix in the morning, and then drove out of Wellington towards Taupo.
Yup Cath got to drive on the wrong side of the road!
Very wet and cloudy until Bulls. Saw a Vancouver Grizzlies jersey at a store when we stopped for a snack.
Stopped at a campsite called Mangaweka and could see evidence of pretty severe flooding.
After that stop we saw lots of trees snapped in half from the cyclone.
Finally arrived at a cute little AirBNB in Taupo on Rifle Range Road. Was hoping to hit a food truck festival that night, but it was cancelled even though the weather was clear. Wandered around the little lake town and found a good little restaurant.
February 17th
After Leaving Taupo early (7:30am) to get to Hobbiton we saw lots of steam from the Geothermal power along the way.
10am, boarded the bus to take us from the farm into Hobbiton.
After a tour of the village we had a pint in the Greendragon Inn and then a terrific buffet lunch. Next we had to drive to our AirBnB in Whitianga. 5 hours north!
Click here for full Hobbiton Gallery
It was about 5 hour drive through farm land and then into the windy seaside route beside the Coromandel Forest.
Our amazing airbnb right on the water in Mercury Bay. Across the bay you could see Shakespeare Cliff.
The next morning we drove to Hahei with plans to go to Cathedral Cove.
After a bit we drove around to Hot Water beach, but the tide was too high so we couldn’t try out the hot water.
Since we couldn’t dig, we went to a pub called the Pour Hourse in Hahei.
Then back to Whitianga for dinner
Tried a bit of astrophotography with my phone. Noted that the Orion constellation and the moon are upside down!
February 19th
Back to Hahei and Hot Water beach since the tide was low.
