Relax or Play

A few weeks ago Dan and I received some sample itineraries from our travel agent and late last week we took some time to investigate some things listed. We figured why not start planning this great amazing vacation.

We decided that in order to make traveling so far worth it we are gonna spend 10-12 days in the country. Anything shorter would seem silly because we need two whole days for flights. Not to mention but while New Zealand is about the size of Colorado (103,000 vs 104,000 square miles) it is loaded with fun and interesting activities. Much more than the land area suggests.

All the itineraries contain a lot of different adventures and moving around the country nearly every day. Taking us from the northern city of Auckland all the way to the southern island and Queenstown. We can use a mix of transportation that includes inter-island flights, car or train. We are probably going to do a mix of all those. It would be fun to be super adventurous and drive the entire way but there are two problems. One they drive on the opposite side of the street (very strange) and the roads are not 2 lane divided highways. So while the distances between stops seems small ~150 -200miles it is not when you can't go 70 mph on relatively straight good condition roads. Not to mention I was warned about the sheep in the road. (Mind hops to movie scenes of cars stopped for the train length herd of sheep crossing, not fun)

One cool activity that Dan and I really want to see is the Glow Worm Caves. Nothing really more than that, you know just the average cave lit by thousands of glow worms. It sounds really cool and should be well worth the money. It is located in Rotorua a region of New Zealand that is home to thermal pools and reserves. It sounds good to go for a swim in a naturally heated pool. Also a nod to those sheep above. They are prolly crossing the road to get to the Agrodome Sheep Shows because that is also listed on the itinerary as a possible activity. I think I might skip that one.

Once we leave Rotorua is off to the capital, Wellington. I am kinda a city girl and so I'm excited to see Wellington. I find cities fascinating with all the unique architecture and organization. I wouldn't mind just walking around and enjoying some shopping perhaps. A more relax time getting ready for the excitement of the south island.

Crossing the straight between islands will take us into the more landscape rich NZ. The part that the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) movies were shot. I am excited to see a glacier and spend some time hanging out with the penguins (A fellow student at the UI said she saw penguins in NZ, woot). This is a time for a train for sure. There is a TranzAlpine train that brings us through the mountains and along the west coast.

Of course what NZ trip doesn't contain some fantasy action. Dan and I would love to engage our inner geeky-ness and go on the LOTR tour. A trip through middle earth while reliving the movies and seeing the actual places that Frodo journeyed would be epic. While I do realize that a lot of movie was staged and computer generated those landscapes are real. It should be cool to see them in person.

Well enough about this. We still have so much to do and plan. I left out so much in an effort to not make you read for hours. I'm sure we will be writing more when we finalize some activities. Until then LOTR tour is all you need to remember.