New Zealand has South Island and North Island. I choose to go to the South Island because I wanted to visit The Lord of The Rings Movie set in Hobbiton. I search for the local tour that available in Auckland with the Indonesian tour guide. Since it is a private tour, I told the tour guide of places I want to go with my family. We spend about 6 day and 5 nights in Auckland, the effective traveling around Auckland was 4 days, the other 2 days was arrival and departure day.
Day 1
The places I visit:
Cornwall Park Auckland and around Auckland city
Upon arrival day, I was surprised by how quiet it is in Auckland Airport (compare to Sydney). I like it because we do not have to wait for a long queue. The funny thing was we were the only Indonesian queuing in the line that day. I told my tour guide to bring banner with my name written on it, to be able to find him easier. Turns out he did not need a banner anyway, because there is no crowd waiting in the arrival gate. I can easily spot him. When we go to the parking lot, there is no traffic jam at all.
Since we arrive at 4 pm and does not want to waste time by going straight to the hotel to rest, we decided to stroll around a little bit. The tour guide takes us to Cornwall Park. It was a huge park with a lot of sheep. Yes, sheep in the middle of the city. My son loves the Cornwell Park so much, he keeps running around chasing the sheep (but the sheep keep running away from him). It is a rare sight for us Indonesia, to see such a large beautiful park with sheep. The weather was so cold too. It is perfect to have an evening walk. This park also has a big playground for kids. After tired chasing sheep, he goes play in the playground. We spend about one and a half hour there, then have dinner in an Indian Restaurant to find to eat food with rice. After that, we do some groceries shopping in Countdown to buy some coffee, tea, and food for breakfast.
Day 2
The places I visit:
Coromandel and Cathedral Cove
We start our journey at 8 am, we were going to Coromandel. The view along the way is so beautiful with the green field and blue sky. we have to stop a lot in the journey because there are so many gorgeous views to take pictures in. It was a heavenly view. I do not need to use a filter in the picture. It is literally a perfect view. The types of view I think only exist in a movie.
The next destination was Cathedral Cove. There are several activities you can do in Cathedral Cove like; swimming, diving, kayaking, and snorkeling. We did not do any of that, sad I know. It is because I go there when it is winter. Not a good I idea to swim in winter, besides I am traveling with the elder and a child so it is rather impossible for me. We still enjoy stunning view though.
On the first day, we spend more on the road because of the distance between places is quite far. It took about 6 hours in total to go back and forth. I have no clue that it is better to move to another hotel every day to save time spent on the road. We supposed to go from the Auckland city and switch hotel in Coromandel. Well, now I know. LOL. Nonetheless, as it was the first day of enjoying the beautiful sight I have no complaints besides the distance.
Day 3
The places I visit:
Mount Ruapehu, Turoa
The second day we change the hotel and decided to spend nights in Rotorua. Rotorua is close to Hobbiton (my main destination). Unfortunately, the car we use got a flat tire on the way. So we need to stop by in a small town, but I forgot the name of that town. Then we were having lunch while waiting for the tour guide to fix the tire.
Before arriving in Rotorua, we went to Mount Ruapehu, Turoa, to play with snow. We did not stay for too long there, because it’s so windy and too cold for us. It is hard to take a decent picture in such windy snowy weather. My son enjoys playing snow for a little bit.
Day 4
The places I visit:
Government Gardens Rotorua, Lake Rotorua and The Skyline Rotorua
I was staying at Rydges Rotorua. It was a great hotel to stay in. The room is huge, it is claimed to be the biggest room compare to other hotels in Rotarua. I do not know since this is the only hotel I stayed in Rotarua. The room also has a separate bathroom and bathtub; I got it for a great price too. The second day we are strolling around Rotorua. First stop was the Government Gardens Rotorua. We take pictures and walking around Lake Rotorua. There are shops and souvenir store nearby.
Then we go to the Skyline Rotorua, it was only 15 minutes drive from the Government Gardens Rotorua. The Skyline Rotorua is like a fun tourist attraction. They provide activities like a gondola, mountain biking, Luge, sky swing, etc. You can check out their website https://www.skyline.co.nz/en/rotorua/
My favorite is the Luge. My son was so excited to ride luge down the hill. Actually, I am a little bit scared to ride it, but it looks so good to be missed out. It is not like I am gonna go back there soon. I gathered my courage and went for it. I got to tell you, it was awesome.
Riding Luge is a bit hard in a curve down the hill road and to pull the brake when it is going too fast. One unexpected thing was, due to the cold weather, my hand was numb and freezing. I should have used gloves.
Did I mention the view from the high hill? It was so amazing, we can see Rotorua Town from above. Visiting the skyline Rotorua is a must if you bring along kids or if you simply enjoy adrenalin pumping activities. You could spend all day here.
Day 5
The places I visit:
Hobbiton
This is when we visit the Lord of The Rings Movie set in Hobbiton. I will write a separate post of the Hobbiton. It deserves its own post.
Day 6
I went back to Sydney on an early flight around 6 am. I did not sleep that night, because we need to leave the hotel at 3 am. The good thing is my tour guide is willing to take us to the airport. although it cost more money for the additional service.
Overall I and my family are very happy to be able to experience Auckland. Maybe next time we can visit the North Island of New Zealand, I heard it is more beautiful than the North Island.
ND PASSION 