Travel Journal: Auckland, NZ - Hobbiton and Waitomo

11/19/2024

 🐉The world is not in your books and maps, it is out there 🐉

Today’s adventures took us all over the rugged mountains and hills of New Zealand’s Northern Island into The Shire, and finally to exploring the famous Waitomo Glow-Worm caves 🪱 

To say it was magical is an understatement 💫

There’s so many tour options to get to Hobbiton but make sure you take one that gives you plenty of time to enjoy, there’s shopping and of course food ! We loved ours with Auckland Tours we booked through our favorite- Viator. There’s many tour options and some even include a hobbit feast. 

The glow worm cave is a sacred place for New Zealand’s Māori people so no photos allowed inside the cave, only outside. You honestly could never capture it in photos and it’s one you just have to experience. Your guide walks you through the sacred cave explaining its history and why it so so special and then you board a boat. In stunning silence- your guide uses only ropes on the ceiling to gently guide you through the magical twinkling of glow worms above. In-between adventures today was sitting back enjoying the bus ride taking in the endless rolling green hills full of cows, horses and sheep that make up the absolute raw beauty that is New Zealand. 

Time to rest up for our next flight tomorrow - thank you New Zealand 🇳🇿 for kicking off this grand adventure!!✈️✈️

#hobbitonnewzealand #visitnewzealand #waitomoglowwormcaves #travelblogger #viator #theworldisnotinyourbooksandmaps #travelnewzealand

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Travel Journal: Washington Day 6, Tacoma, nature and family time !

 06/20/2025 We enjoyed a nice chill last day in a rainy Tacoma- taking in sites, enjoying time with family and shopping🌧️ This city has been a great base for us to stay to easily get to all the adventures we wanted to. Tacoma is situated between Seattle and both national parks and offers its own mix of attractions such as museums, waterfront dining, and parks. Our favorite has definitely been Point Defiance Park and Owens Beach to take in sunsets and watch wildlife 🦭 We also found some unique breweries and some delicious donuts along with cute little shops in old town. Only 30 minutes from Tacoma we shopped The Outlet Collection Seattle this week too, and stocked up on super discounted outdoor gear from some of our favorites like Columbia and Eddie Bauer !  This trip was such a wonderful reset for us and we are ready to get back to it. We don’t know what travel the rest of this year holds with job opportunities pending - but we know we’ll find some adventure somewhere ✈️ Tha...
Read more

Travel Journal: Washington Day 5, More Seattle and Kayaking the Puget Sound !

 06/19/2024 We spent a lovely morning today exploring the Alki Beach area of Seattle before we did a fantastic kayak adventure in the Puget Sound 🐋🦭 Lincoln Park was some beautiful walking and led us to one of a few troll statue art installations (spread throughout the PNW) made completely out of recycled materials. Alki Beach has a nice laid back vibe and lots of shopping and dining 🦀 Washington’s Puget Sound, is a huge estuary connected to the Pacific Ocean -known for its rich biodiversity and stunning views of the surrounding nature and diverse wildlife. Puget is home to various fish, seabirds, and marine mammals, including the orca whale.  We have come to love doing kayak tours in many destinations we visit, and find it’s a fantastic way to get right into the local nature and see some wildlife! We booked with Ballard Kayak and Paddle-Board and we were so happy we did. From our fantastic guide to the amazing sights it was such a great way to really get into Washington’s ...
Read more

Travel Journal: New Orleans- The Big Easy & Biloxi, Mississippi

 November of 2020  I have had a lifelong obsession with seeing New Orleans. I even had a mardi-gras theme room for a while as a kid- I guess seeing it in travel books I just fell in love with the architecture and always wanted to try the food !  Finally in 2020 we made it happen and spent a good almost 2 weeks in the “Big Easy”.  We all know 2020 was a crazy year to say the least… We had originally planned to go to New Orleans in May of 2020 and well, things obviously had to be cancelled. By November we had an offer from Expedia to re-schedule since Covid numbers were lower in Louisiana and after much thought and arranging plans we decided to go for it. We followed all safety measures and of course quarantined and had to be tested as soon as we got home. It was a very strange time to travel, that is for sure.. We had never been walking through the airport with masks and face shields- but this trip was such a welcome break from the crazy stress (and working in healthc...
Read more