New Zealand touristy stuff and Red Stag hunt

[npaden]

Okay. First leg of our summer/fall of a lifetime is underway.

Very eventful flights on Sunday with delays and rebooked connections but we ended up making it on our overnight flight to Sydney with 2 minutes to spare before they locked the doors.




Other than some anxiety with some figuring out how to get our itinerary back on track and being stuck in middle seats for 4+ hours on our rebooked flight from Houston to San Francisco, everything turned out okay.

Flight to Sydney was uneventful and we sprung for the premium economy seats so all of us got some decent sleep as well.

You might be asking why we are flying to Sydney instead of Auckland and when I was booking flights it was actually a tiny bit cheaper to fly to Sydney and then Auckland than it would have been to fly straight to Auckland so we figured what the heck, might as well go to Australia even if it is only for a day!

Landed at 7 am and left our bags at the hotel and then did the main touristy stuff in Sydney.



Did a ferry ride to Manly beach and spent a bunch of money on Ubers but it was fun and we got to see the main stuff anyway.

Currently at the Sydney airport waiting on our flight to Auckland right now.

Just going to hang out in Auckland this evening and then start some touristy stuff on the north island. Our big plans include a 12 mile point to point hike past “Mount Doom” but right now the forecast of 100% chance of rain over 1 inch and gusty winds isn’t making that sound like a very fun hike. Hopefully the forecast is off.

Not sure when my next update will be but I will try to keep them coming.

 

[TheGreek]

In NZ, make sure you drink some Speight’s, the pride of the South. And eat some mince and cheese pies.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Are you staying on the North Island?

 

[brymoore]

Follow!

 

[npaden]

Are you staying on the North Island?

We are in Auckland tonight and then “National Park” for 2 nights.

Doing Hobbington tomorrow evening, booked the special dinner one.

 

[Wildabeest]

If you like oysters, definitely try some in NZ. Best oysters I’ve ever had.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

We are in Auckland tonight and then “National Park” for 2 nights.

Doing Hobbington tomorrow evening, booked the special dinner one.

I meant, are you on the north island the whole time. Either way, sounds fun!

 

[npaden]

I meant, are you on the north island the whole time. Either way, sounds fun!

No. North Island is just 4 days and 3 nights. South Island is 9 days and nights. Flying from Auckland to Queenstown Saturday (Friday in the US) then doing stuff in and around Queenstown making our way up toward Christchurch before flying home on Monday the 21st. Hunting part will be from the 16th to the 19th.

 

[Kiwi]

Heres some suggestions for Queenstown:

Deer Park Heights - Scenic Drive and Animal Encounter

Deer Park Heights Is A Scenic Drive & Animal Encounter Located In Queenstown. See, Feed And Stroll A Working Deer Farm.

deerparkheights.co.nz

Queenstown Craft Brewery & Taproom by Altitude Brewing. Brewed For Adventure

Queenstown Craft Brewery and Taproom. Home of Queenstown's best beer on the shores of Lake Wakatipu by the marina. Brewed for adventure

www.altitudebrewing.co.nz

https://ayrburn.com/ (we just go to the bakehouse as its the cheapest place to eat)

The Fork And Tap

Some of the best food and takeaways in Arrowtown, New Zealand. 19 beer taps. An extensive wine list. Beautiful, locally sourced, delicious food. We are so much more than your local pub. Family and dog friendly, we invite everyone to our bar and restaurant. Dine in or takeaway the best pizza in Arrow

www.theforkandtap.co.nz

Home - Fergburger

Fergburger is a Queenstown ‘Must Do’! Operating since 2001 it has been a favourite by locals and visitors alike.

fergburger.com

 

[npaden]

Okay. Today was the day we were supposed to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing but with a 100% chance of heavy rain and strong winds we decided to skip it. Especially since the point was to be able to see Mount Doom and other pretty stuff and with the rain and clouds we wouldn’t be able to see any of it anyway.

So here’s what we’ve been up to so far.

Flight from Sydney to Auckland was uneventful which was nice! We stayed at the Skycity Hotel and had dinner at the Sky Tower which was nice.




Yesterday was a big day. Back to the airport to rent a car. Very strange driving on the left side, just one near miss making a right turn in traffic and looking the wrong direction for oncoming traffic!

Drove out to a place we went 22 years ago on our 10 year anniversary trip and was neat to share it with our son this time.

Karekare beach.


And Karekare falls. We have a picture of us in this same spot 22 years ago.

Everything is so green even though it is the middle of winter.

 

[npaden]

Probably one of the things my son was the most excited about was visiting Hobbinton. We booked the dinner tour which means you get to spend 2 extra hours there and by the end you are the only group left so everything feels more quaint.

Driving out there everything looked amazing and just about anywhere near there could have been picked.



The rain stopped just in time for our tour so that was nice. Not going to bore you with endless pictures of hobbit holes but if you are into that kind of thing they really are making it a special place for sure. I will share a few pics.






The attention to detail was very impressive and my son completely geeked out talking with other Lord of the Rings fans.

This ended up being a huge day for my wife. She ended up at over 10,000 steps with most of those being assisted by her exoskeleton. She was beat by the end of the day but more from her muscles being sore than from her “freezing up” that she experiences with her Parkinson’s disease. The exoskeleton really has been a game changer for her on this trip for sure.

 

[seeth07]

Looks like you guys are having a great trip so far! Glad your wife is doing great and able to enjoy it too!

 

[npaden]

After Hobbinton we still had almost a 3 hour drive in the rain (of course it started raining right toward the end of our tour) in the dark on very windy roads driving on the left side of the road.

The whole reason I booked it that was was for us to be able to get an early start on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing but we were already thinking that might not me happening if the forecast was going to hold.

Drive was uneventful, no more close calls or driving on the wrong side of the road and we got checked into the Airbnb about 11:15 pm. Very long day.

Woke up just before 7 and the forecast was still holding. We did have a window of decent weather before 10 so I got us going to check out “Gollum’s pool”, just a 15 minute drive from where we are staying.

I wasn’t expecting much but it turned out to be a really neat spot even if it hadn’t been in the LOTR movies.





If you look real close my son is at the top of the falls on the right side in this picture. Probably should have used the optical zoom on it.


Picture of my awesome wife doing things that she just flat out couldn’t be doing without the exoskeleton.

 

[mdhunter]

If you like oysters, definitely try some in NZ. Best oysters I’ve ever had.

Seaside oysters from the eastern shore of VA are top shelf. That said, I will trust your judgment, lol.

 

[npaden]

Supposed to fly to Milford Sound and do the cruise this morning but they called it off due to inclement weather. We rescheduled to Tuesday morning but the forecast isn’t looking very good for Tuesday either so we might end up missing Milford Sound.

Drove up to Glenorchy and the weather actually turned out pretty good. Not sure why but evidently if you are in Glenorchy you are supposed to take a picture in front of the shed.


Some really pretty spots along the lake.






Really beautiful place. Every direction you look it is gorgeous and every corner you go around there is something new.

Did the Fergburger for lunch and then the bungy jumping was this afternoon.





My son hasn’t sent me his pics or video yet so I might post those in another post. You might notice he ended up losing a shoe!

Here’s us doing the swing.





And not sure if this will work but here’s the link to the videos that I uploaded to YouTube

It was a little scarier than I thought it would be. That is a LONG way up and even with the harness and being hooked up to the giant rubber band it takes some fortitude to launch off the postage stamp sized platform with all that open air underneath you.

 

[npaden]

Got the videos of my son’s bungy jumps.

The first jump he couldn’t quite get himself to go head first which isn’t a safety issue but not quite the adrenaline rush and the yank at the bottom might pull your shoes off if they aren’t on good enough. Well his shoes weren’t on good enough and he lost one on the first jump.

He was so worried about losing his shoe it really took a lot of the enjoyment out of the jump so we sprung for a second jump for him and he was able to go head first and really enjoyed it a lot more the second time.

Here’s the video I took of his 2nd jump.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I agree, it's pretty and something new around every corner. If you have time, MT Cook National Park is pretty cool. Probably my favorite place we visited.

 

[MTpubliclander]

Awesome! We did the other bungy by queenstown, (not the giant one) and it was super fun but I dont know how I would feel about the nevis bungy.
Great write up so far!

 

[glass eye]

Are you borrowing a rifle for your stag hunt ?

For all those following this post and planning on bringing your own weapons; Do Not go through Australia. My first time to NZ we went via Australia and on the return flight they asked for Australian Gun permits. We explained that it was just a layover and we weren't leaving the airport. She asked how long the layover was and I told her 5 hours, to which she relied "Better pray that there are no delays because if it hits the 8 hour mark your guns will be confiscated"

 

[npaden]

I agree, it's pretty and something new around every corner. If you have time, MT Cook National Park is pretty cool. Probably my favorite place we visited.

Staying the night at the Hermitage tonight after seeing some amazing scenery this afternoon!

Are you borrowing a rifle for your stag hunt ?

For all those following this post and planning on bringing your own weapons; Do Not go through Australia. My first time to NZ we went via Australia and on the return flight they asked for Australian Gun permits. We explained that it was just a layover and we weren't leaving the airport. She asked how long the layover was and I told her 5 hours, to which she relied "Better pray that there are no delays because if it hits the 8 hour mark your guns will be confiscated"

We are borrowing a rifle. We did that in South Africa and they had nicer rifles and scopes than anything I own. The guide said he had a Swarovski ATX 95 setup so I didn’t bring my own spotting scope so hopefully we get to use a decent rifle.