Many people will tell you that trying to do both the North & South Islands of New Zealand in only 2 Weeks is ambitious. They would be right. Me and my partner in crime are indeed ambitious. We traveled from a total of 3336 km from Auckland to Queenstown in 2 Weeks. Here’s what we covered in the first weeks

• Day 1: Arrive Auckland. After an amazing 48 Hour Layover in Sydney, we arrived in NZ the evening. By the time we got our bags and did our (very thorough) walkthrough of our campervan (see Choosing a Campervan in NZ) we only drove a bit outside of Auckland before looking for a place to sleep because we still weren’t quite sure how easy or difficult finding places for our self-contained vehicle to set up shop would be.

Flying into NZ

NZ’s epic landscape from the air

Our campervan

• Day 2: Auckland > Hobbiton > Rotorua. I’m glad Hobbiton was the very first thing we did, because to be totally honest this was a huge disappointment. My nerdy LOTR loving self had been looking forward to this so much, but we were herded through like cattle. It mostly standing in line in front of each vignetter waiting for each person to take their pictures. And of course there was the exit through the gift shop. In other words, total tourist trap. We continued on to Rotorua where we found a lovely spot near Lake Okareka to camp for the evening and had ourselves a nice sunset jog around the lake.

Woodturners Cafe, Thames NZ

Breakfast at Woodturners Cafe in Thames

The Shire

The One Ring

I’m a Hobbit!

I’m on official party biznass

Hobbitton

Lake Okareka

First dinner in our campervan

Lake Okareka

• Day 3: Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland & Waitomo Glow Worms Boat Tour. Had breakfast at Picnic Cafe in Rotorua and enjoyed some ice cream from Lady Jane’s. The thermal wonderland had all the trappings of another tourist trap (Hellooooo 11 NZD bottle of sunscreen!), but these geo-thermal formations were indeed quite wonderous. Totally unreal and unlike anything I’d ever seen. And if I hadn’t seen enough Wonders for one day we ALSO did the evening Glow Worms boat tour which was magical.

Waking up to Lake Okareka

Lake Okareka in the morning

Lake Rotorua

Breakfast at Picnic Cafe in Rotorua, NZ

Lane Jane’s Ice Cream, Rotorua, NZ

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

Waitomo

Dinner at Huhu Cafe

• Day 4: Waitomo Glow Worm Tubing > Tongariro. Even though we’d done the Waitomo Glow Worms Boat tour yesterday we decided tubing looked way cooler – and since it was a rainy day, why not spend it inside a cave where we’d be all wet anyway. It definitely was way “cooler” in every senses of the word. Despite a thick wetsuit, you are still sitting in freezing cold water all day. This is basically one of my personal levels of hell. But it was cool enough that I’m glad I did it. Probably wouldn’t do it again though.We warmed up with some hot chocolate from The General Store and then with a run. After some further warming hot showers I felt like a real person again and we hit the road towards Tongariro. We stopped for dinner at Mini India in Taumarunui which was lovely, except for the very mysterious “Back Bar” area where a lot of ruckus was taking place. We never walked up the nerve to go in there. Even though I’m a lover of speakeasies, I had a feeling I wouldn’t be particularly welcome…

Waking up Campervan Style

Breakfast at Bosco Cafe in Te Kuiti, NZ

Tubing Boots at Waitomo Glow Worms Cave

Tubing Boots at Waitomo Glow Worms Cave

Post Glow Worm Tubing Hot Chocolate from The General Store

Sunset in Waitomo

Cow in Waitomo

Dinner at Mini India

Dinner at Mini India

Mysterious back bar of Dinner at Mini India

• Day 5: Tongariro Alpine Crossing > Wellington Another gloomy weather day, so per usual for us, our Alpine pictures are mostly of fog and not the stunning tourquoise alpine lakes that you usually see pictured. After our hike we drove to Wellington where we had a lovely Vietnamese dinner. But as we were walking back to our campervan we saw someone crouched by it in the distance. We shouted and they ran away, but we were too late. The camper had been tagged with graffiti. Definitely a jarring welcome back to city life after our few days in nature.

• Day 6: Ferry Wellington to Picton. Spent the morning exploring Wellington including a fantastic breakfast at Loretta’s and the farmer’s market by the docs – where there was a Thai culture festival going on. Also did a tasting flight at Six Barrel Soda Co. We were also able to squeeze in a soccer match. Because why not.

Our adventure through Middle Earth continued with 1 Week in NZ’s South Island: Picton – Queenstown.