Back in Rotorua: Skyline Rotorua & talk about Aliens
I returned to Rotorua for a couple of days to experience a few activities that included Skyline Rotorua, as well as just to relax.
Read MoreGeothermal Fun: Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
My solo trip to New Zealand took place in August 2013, so, yes, this post is pretty late. Regardless, I wanted to document my travels, so here 'tis.
Hawaii's summer is New Zealand's winter, but with an incredible deal on a roundtrip airfare, I really could not pass it up and would brave the cold—it really wasn't that cold, was it?
Read MorePhoto Blog: Road Scenes from Tongariro NP to Rotorua
An unfamiliar two-lane road is always an open invitation. Who wants to take the quickest route back to Rotorua? Not me.
Read MorePhoto Blog: Tawhai & Mounds @ Tongariro NP
I did two other shorter walks while in Tongariro National Park: Mounds Walk and Tawhai Falls Walk. They were more like quick jaunts than anything else, but nice just the same. Both are located on the side of State Highway 48 headed toward Whakapapa Village before the Whakapapa Visitor Centre.
Read MoreTaranaki Falls Track in Tongariro National Park
New Zealand has nine Great Walks, but I'm not tramping on any of them. Instead, I'm off on the Taranaki Falls Walking Track, an easy loop trail located near the Whakapapa Village Visitor Centre. Come join me!
Read MoreDay #6: Driving to Tongariro National Park
The goal today is to make the approximately three-hour drive from Rotorua to the park with a short break in Taupo. I head out of Rotorua on Highway 5 then hook up onto Highway 1 at Waikarei. Since road trips are my favorite mode of travel, I'm looking forward to this long drive and seeing more of the North Island.
Read MoreDay #5: Rotorua's Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest
Tokorangi Forest, known as The Redwoods, is part of the greater Whakarewarewa Forest that encompasses a total of 13,993 acres, home to native and exotic trees, and sits adjacent to the Blue and Green Lakes that can be included in a daylong hike. For a small fee, you can purchase a map illustrating the routes available at The Redwoods Gift Shop & Visitor Centre. For shorter walks, there are six walking tracks that begin just outside the visitor centre marked by sign posts with each track indicated by a different color.
Read MoreDay #4: Waimangu Volcanic Valley
Geothermal activities are the draw at Rotorua with its geysers, mud pools and steaming lakes that stem from the Rotorua caldera on which the town sits—it's literally a hotbed of activity. What other place has a steaming pond in the middle of town? And so going thermal is where I start.
As soon as I stumble across the website for Waimangu Volcanic Valley while researching local attractions, I have to put it on my list.
Read MoreDay #3: Hobbiton Tour & on to Rotorua
After two nights in busy Hamilton, I pack up my things on yet another frigid day beneath grey clouds, and head east to visit the Hobbiton Movie Tour Set near Matamata. I can't wait to see The Shire, home to Frodo Baggins, Sam, Merry and Pippin. It's where it all began, where "The Fellowship of the Ring" was forged!
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