2025 - Fall Trip "Part 3" (New Zealand)

Kia Ora from New Zealand!

Our good friends Matt & Sue embarked on a 3 month Australia, New Zealand, Tazmania (ending in Singapore) trip in September!  AMAZING!  They asked if we wanted to join them, but I thought it might be too long to be out of the country (given my mom's move, etc.)....but once we found out that Kathy was getting married in Hawaii we thought to invite ourselves along for a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving since we would be part way there already!

They would be nearing the southern part of the North Island and going into the northern part of the South Island, so that is where we focused our group itinerary.  Barry & I figured this would be a good way to introduce ourselves to NZ, and we can go back and finish up someday.  Here is a map of our itinerary:

We departed from Honolulu on Sunday morning after the wedding, sending our wedding gear back to LA with Bryan & Sian.

Air New Zealand has a cool feature called Sky Couch where you can buy a whole row to rest in rather than upgrade to Business Class.  I thought we'd try it, but it ends up that Barry and I are a little too tall and large to make full use of it! 😂 though it was nice to have the whole row.

We lost a day flying over (stopover in Aukland), and arrived Monday evening in Wellington to meet Matt & Sue at our Airbnb - a sweet spot at Oriental Bay.

DAYS 1-4: WELLINGTON

After figuring out coffee (and the boys buying more downstairs), we made our way to the Museum of New Zealand.  

What an amazing Museum!  It's sort of the "official" museum of New Zealand and covers history, culture, native species, etc. 

The first exhibit we went through was "Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War".  It was an amazing exhibit/collaboration between the Museum & WETA telling "the story of the Gallipoli campaign during WW1 through the eyes and words of eight ordinary New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances."

Other artifacts in the museum's collection include historical & cultural items educating visitors about the Maori and other indigenous peoples of the islands, as well as environmental items unique to New Zealand.

They also had a section with art from local artists...some of my favorites 😊

The next day we went on our first wine tour (well, first for Barry & I)!  This was in the Martinborough Region, where we tried a variety of both white & red wines.  Matt & Sue have been to many wine tastings already on their journey and have commented about how they have been surprised at how their minds have been opened to how different regions can impact the taste of a varietal.

The very next day we packed in another full day tour - our Lord of the Rings experience!  Matt & Sue had gone to Hobbiton up north before they met us and it looks so cool - we are definitely going to make it up there one day!  The really fun thing about experiencing all of this with these two is they are super knowledgable about all things LoTR!!!!  Matt has read the books, so we ended up watching (almost) ALL of the movies together while traveling - Barry & I had to squeeze the last one in on the plane ride home.  I could ask Matt all of my questions - I feel like I finally "get it"! 😆

The tour took us to WETA where we got a "behind the scenes" tour.  Frankly we were all a little disappointed that we did not get to see where they actually MAKE stuff happen - it was mainly a show and tell of history of the company, props, and info on HOW they do/did things.  We still learned a lot, and had a fun time with sculptures!

We ended the tour at the top of Mount Victoria and a beautiful view of the city!

Well, we wiped out Sue by the end of this tour 😕  NOTE: She just had an unexpected BRAIN SURGERY in May!!! 😮  Everything went well with the surgery, but clearly her body is still adjusting to a new normal, and we maybe over-did things?  Sorry Sue! The next day Barry & I took the bus to a place called Petone across the bay, then came back and we all explored the city some more...off to the South Island by ferry tomorrow!  Here are some final shots of Wellington:

DAYS 5-9: PICTON - NELSON - ABEL TASMAN - NELSON

We were all curious about our 3 hour ferry ride on the "Interislander" to Picton.  Turns out the boat was very nice!  The scenery reminded us of our ferry ride to Alaska, only bigger boat and not as cold!  We ate dinner on board, and enjoyed some cold beverage (see Sue below).

Upon arrival in Picton, we spent a quick night in a motel not far from the docks. In the morning we picked up our rental (a trusty TOYOTA Highlander) and headed for Nelson.  A note here, that driving in NZ is on the "wrong" side of the road.  Even though we were all on the rental agreement, I was the only one not brave enough to drive 😂

Welcome to Nelson, our departure point to Abel Tasman National Park.  Thank goodness for Sue and her research.  We booked our hotel stay here for 2 nights, one on the front end and one on the back of our 3-day hike in the NP.  By doing this we could leave our luggage at the hotel while we are gone. 

We went with an amazing outfit for our hike: Wilson's, this is the same company Vanessa used on her trip to South Island.  The family owned/run business has deep roots in Abel Tasman, as told in a book that the current matriarch/owner has written about. It is quite a tale, and although we did not buy the book on our trip, we made friends with a co-hiker that lives in CA we may borrow it from in the future 😉

DAY 1: Here we go!

DAY 2: I was told it would be "undulating" terrain....

On the morning of Day 2, Sue was not feeling well, so she stayed behind...which meant catching the water shuttle to meet us at our next lodge.  What's fun is she got to see what our bags experience, and why it was important to put all of our belongings in plastic bags inside our duffles!  She also got to take a much needed rest.

BTW, here are our fearless leaders - Sarah & Jordan (Sue & I immediately came up with a way to remember their names...Max C.'s HS GF 😂).

This time, I was the one not feeling so hot.  I had woken up that morning with a very slight sore throat and it just got worse throughout the day going up and down hills, taking on & off my jacket...so I missed the sunset, just ate, and went straight to bed!  I missed a really beautiful sunset!

DAY 3: A relaxing day for Sue & I

I decided to kick back on Day 3 with Sue so as not to risk getting sick.  We had a great (and relaxing) time!  I grabbed some photos of these maps, and we got to know the "head chef", Kathleen.  What an amazing gal!  Not only was she gracious enough to share some recipes and tips with us, she ended up sharing all of her ideas to improve the already great service at Wilson's...by the end she told Sue & I we should be her business consultants! 😂  We see great things ahead for her!

Later, we boarded the ferry that would take us back to Kaiteriteri...

...and the boys finished Day 3! 👏

What a great experience - we are so glad we got the opportunity to experience the National Park so intimately...we saw and learned a lot!

We even got to meet one of the owner/founders of Wilson's, John (below).  He and his wife Lynette (great granddaughter of the original homesteaders at Meadowbank at Awaroa).  Sadly, Lynette's health is not well so she could not greet us - the business is now run by their descendants.

 

DAYS 10-13: NELSON - BLENHEIM - CHRISTCHURCH

On our drive out to Abel Tasman, Sue noticed a road sign for "Peanut Butter Tours".  From the backseat I looked up PIC's Peanut Butter World...the "best peanut butter in the world"!  We spontaneously booked a tour, which was a fun thing to do after our hike, plus it included FREE jars of peanut butter!!! 👏

Next we drove down to Blenheim, where we stayed in a beautiful Airbnb for 3 nights - LAUNDRY!!!!

Another great find by Sue (who missed her calling as a travel agent) was a "mailboat tour" in Havelock.  You basically spend the day on THE mailboat that delivers mail to the various islands in the Marlborough Sound.  In some cases, this weekly delivery is the only connection folks that live there get!  They also deliver people and supplies when needed. 

The tour also includes education on farming...

Here are examples of some of our stops, including private residences, vacation stays, restaurants, and tiny towns.

On our last full day in the Marlborough region we did another full day wine tasting tour.  The Marlborough region is known for their Sauvignon Blanc, which is one of my favorite wines!  Our guide Darlene was amazing - she studied oenology and was an assistant wine maker for Kim Crawford before joining Hop 'n Grape Tours.  

Our tours kept us super busy!  The next day we made our long-ish drive down to Christchurch.  That is where Barry & I fly out, while Matt & Sue continue onward to finish the South Island and then off to Tasmania and then Singapore - EXPLORERS! 👏

First things first, coffee before the beautiful drive...

In Christchurch, we were surprised at the amazing architecture and murals throughout the city.  We learned that earthquakes in the early 2010's demolished many buildings, so much of the cityscape is filled with newly constructed buildings.  This will definitely be a place for Barry & I to come back to.

We really wished we could have stayed longer, but the holidays are approaching fast, and we need to get back to CA for Thanksgiving with Sian's family, and then home to prepare for weeks of holiday guests - it will be our last Christmas in Texas!

We had a FABULOUS time with Matt & Sue and can't wait to see one another in CA and travel together again!  

Kia Ora!