As we flew into Auckland from Tahiti, we met our daughter, Lindsey and son-in-law Ryan at the airport, to begin our eleven day New Zealand adventure. We got a little nervous after waiting for over an hour because we had no way to contact them, but they were just held up in customs by Ryan’s fishing gear. Lindsey had taken on the task of planning our trip and plan she did! We had a concise spreadsheet with towns, transportation and activities mapped out. We slept in six towns and traveled by planes, trains, automobiles and a ferry. We rented cars for maximum flexibility. Mike had lightly sprained his ankle in Tahiti, so Ryan became our designated driver. The first task was to get used to driving on the wrong (left) side of the road and the wrong (right) side of the car. We soon learned that the straight driving was not that difficult, but remembering to turn into the correct lane took some getting used to. Most intersections are governed by roundabouts so those took some getting used to also. Ryan did a great job chauffeuring us around the country!

Our accommodations were part of the adventure as we used Airbnb for the first time. It was great to have a family home or apartment to stay in. We had two bedrooms, kitchen and living rooms at each place. All of the reservations and payments were made on-line which was very convenient. Only one time, in Auckland, did it not work out, but luckily we were saved by another AirBnb-er.

Outside the urban areas, most of New Zealand is very rural and the hillsides are covered with sheep. Hence, wool and lamb are New Zealand’s main exports. We enjoyed eating lamb multiple times on the trip.

New Zealand is an outdoor enthusiast’s wonderland. Everywhere we went there were opportunities to scare yourself and leave you breathless. We were there in the fall so it was a bit cold for water sports like surfing, scuba and snorkeling (which were on Lindsey’s original list).

Our first stop was Rotorua, a quaint little town on a beautiful lake with a lot of Maori culture. Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. While Mike took a day off for his ankle, Ryan, Lindsey and I visited (the outside of) the Rotorua Museum, had coffee on the lake and soaked with some locals in “Hot and Cold”. New Zealand’s landscape has been formed by the many volcanos that are a part of it. The active volcanos also heat groundwater creating hot springs throughout the country. We discovered a place where two creeks came together, one hot and one cold, making for a great warm swimming hole!

Lindsey and I zorbed, in Rotorua, at H2OGO, on its Sidewinder Track. This involved getting into a giant ball and being rolled onto a downhill track. At first we were sitting up straight but as we hit the first corner we tumbled head over heels. We were laughing so hard we could hardly catch our breath as the ball finally rolled up the incline to the finish!

Later that day, we headed for the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves for a subterranean adventure that had us black water tubing through Ruakuri Cave. Throughout three hours we took leaps of faith (I only did one and was to scared to do the others) over cascading waterfalls and floated down an underground river. On the vaulted limestone galleries above were awesome glow worms that lit up the caves. It was quite the adventure and Mike and Lindsey survived mini panic attacks from the confined spaces!

In Taupo, another small touristy town on a huge lake, Lindsey and I rented a kayak and found beaches on the lake where hot springs flowed into the lake creating warm water shores, aka “Hot Water Beaches”.

Continuing south, we stayed in Wellington and then caught the ferry to take us from the North Island to the South Island. Leaving the ferry we walked across the road to the train station to catch a five hour train to Christchurch. It was a long but beautiful day of cross-country travel! After a night in Christchurch we drove down to Queenstown, our most southern destination.

Queenstown is perched beautifully on Lake Wakatipu. While Ryan fully explored the local fishing holes, our adventures continued with a ride on the biggest bungee swing in the world. We were lifted off the launch deck, suspended 160 meters above the canyon floor and were suddenly released. We screamed our way toward the canyon floor before swinging up!

The next day, the four of us took a ride up a very steep gondola on Ben Lomond Mountain where “Skyline” operates a gondola, mountain biking, and luging. The luge was a lot of fun, with two tracks to choose from and no rules to slow us down! We noted a lot less regulations and precautions for activities like this, than you might find in the U.S.

After a few rides on the luge we were treated to a 30 minute Maori Haka show. Haka is the traditional dance of the Maori people and has been made popular by New Zealand’s rugby team, the All Blacks. The dancers were very intense and proud of their culture. Lindsey got to participate in the show and learn some typical Haka moves.

After a quick flight, we were back on the North Island in Auckland. We hit a little speed bump with our AirBnb issue, but the next day we took a pretty ferry ride over to Waiheke Island. Waiheke Island is known for the best vineyards in the country so we of course did some wine tasting and a little beer tasting too.

After eight and a half months of travel, it was wonderful to see Lindsey and Ryan! We parted ways at the airport, as they headed back to California and we went on our way to Australia. Even as we went through our travel adventures we missed them a lot and our time together passed all too quickly.