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NZ Easter Getaway
  • Jamie Zuidema
  • Jacqui Zuidema
  • Jamie Zuidema
  • Jacqui Zuidema

NZ Easter Getaway

New Zealand our way Read more
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  • Trip start
    March 29, 2024
    NZ Easter Getaway

    Day 1 Melb to Christchurch.

    March 29, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    A beautiful sunrise at Tulla to start our NZ trip. Thanks Tim for dropping us off! An uneventful flight catching up on movies and arriving in NZ at 2:30pm. We checked in to our Air BNB, met the host and spent some time walking around the center of Christchurch. It was amazing to see how much they are still rebuilding after the earth quakes. A hearty pub meal watching rugby and planning tomorrow's adventures.Read more

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    Christchurch to Timaru

    March 30, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Our first day on the road took us to Lyttelton for breakfast. Luckily for us there was a market with so much delicious food, so breakfast was amazing. Lyttelton was a lovely port town with breathtaking views. Then onto Akaroa, another beautiful seaside town, but swamped with tourists. We then drove a little inland to pass Reika gorge on our way to Timaru. Reika gorge has the most beautiful coloured water and we enjoyed a somewhat steep walk. It was a bit drizzly, foggy and cloudy but even that couldn't take away from the views. No little penguins turned up in Timaru this evening...They are all out to sea, but a nice walk on the beach and pizza for dinner.Read more

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    A lot of WOW!

    March 31, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We took a long detour on our way from Timaru to Oamaru, through Lake Tekapo. We saw some amazing mountains and lake views. Well worth the trip. We started with a stop at the Fairley bakery and had some great pies for an early lunch. Then onto Lake Tekapo and the other lakes in the hydro scheme. We also stopped and walked into some clay cliffs. These were more scenic than we thought they were going to. As the day progressed the weather improved immensely. We were in T-shirts at Lake Tekapo. Some of the mountains had a slight dusting of snow and the autumn colours were just beginning to show 🍁🍂.Read more

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    A rock kind of day

    April 1, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    After exploring Oamaru, a pretty and historical seaside town, we headed into rock territory more correctly Geo sites. We had a fun day exploring rock formations. In between rocks we had, well me, Jacqui, in particular had a delicious lunch of Thai Pumpkin soup in a little cafe in Duntroon.
    We finished the day in Dunedin. We stayed on a giant hill overlooking the beach and town. We went for an evening stroll along the boardwalk at St Clair Beach and ate a very yummy dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant with a view.    Read more

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    Day 5. The Catlins.

    April 2, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    A very busy day of driving and walking. Some spectacular seaside scenery made all the walking and driving worth it. Places visited included Tunnel beach, Nugget point lighthouse, Purakaunui falls, Cathedral caves and Curio Bay. We arrived at our Airbnb in Colac Bay at 7:30pm. A really cozy well equipped apartment only about 50 meters from the beach was our home for the evening.Read more

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    Te Anau

    April 3, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    After such a full on day yesterday it was lovely to have a short drive and more relaxing day today. I started the day with a magnificent sunrise, which I didn't Even have to get up too early for. I was at the beach at 7:30 in plenty of time to watch the sun rise and then the mist roll in. We were at Te Anau by lunchtime, allowing us time to eat, shop and settle in to our accommodation before our scheduled Glow worm cave experience. This turned out to be amazing. The caves were very impressive and the glow worms like stars in the sky. Unfortunately I don't have any photos as it was not allowed.Read more

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    Milford sound

    April 4, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    What a spectacular place. The view points and walks on the way to Milford Sound are as amazing, if not more so than Milford Sound itself. The morning was cloudy and a little rainy but the afternoon sun came out and generally cleared the sky. We took a 2 hour Milford Sound cruise before driving out again. The tunnel through the mountains to get there was impressive, although the falling rock notices whilst waiting for our turn to use the tunnel a little scary.Read more

  • NZ Easter Getaway

    Queenstown

    April 5, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    A quiet time in Queenstown despite the influx of tourists. The town centre was so busy we quickly left to walk on the peninsula near our accommodation. After a gondola ride for a spectacular view over Queenstown, Jamie felt very brave at a great height and I have photographic evidence. However I wish I had a video of him trying to move himself next to the railing. 🤣Read more

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    Franz Josef

    April 6, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Glaciers. So many Glaciers.
    The trip from Queenstown to Franz Joseph was very picturesque although the roads were steep and windy for much of the trip. A stop in Wanaka where there was another beautiful lake. The rapid then took us through the Haast pass to the West Coast. We stayed in a sleepy sea side village about 30 minutes from Franz Josef. The accommodation was called the tower and it was a very cute little 2 story hexagon. Tomorrow we are booked to take a helicopter tour over some glaciers including a glacier landing.Read more

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    Glacier flight

    April 7, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    The highlight of the day and probably the trip so far was the helicopter flight to the glaciers. We landed on a small glacier and flew over the larger Franz Josef glacier and off towards Mt Cook. We had a spectacular morning for a flight. There were some low laying clouds but overall it was a bright sunny experience. We were so blessed this morning but had a little disappointment this afternoon when we arrived at a blowhole and pancake rolls to find them closed due to an earthquake earlier today. The earthquake was about 5 km off the coast, not that we noticed at all. We also stopped off for a tree top walk.Read more

  • NZ Easter Getaway

    The last of the south Island.

    April 9, 2024, Tasman Sea ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    The final days on the south Island involved a lot of travel. We drove and made some quick stops and had an overnight stay in Richmond near Nelson. Richmond was a bit industrial but towns around it were lovely and the house we stayed in was an historic place. We visited a gorge with a suspension bridge and flying fox. We walked out over the suspension bridge did a small walk and then returned via the flying fox. It was a very short ride and not too steep. The next day was gloomy and we drove over another big mountain, through clouds and rain to Picton where we caught the ferry to the north Island. Jamie and I were a bit to leisurely this morning and as a result we were not able to stop at a winery in the Marlborough region. 😥Read more

  • NZ Easter Getaway

    Southern North Island

    Apr 10–13, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    As beautifully planned as the first week of our trip was the rest not so much. My enthusiasm for research waned and we just planned around distances travelled. Anyway still some great times. Overnights in Wellington, Napier and Mount Maunganui. Napier and the Hawkes Bay region was a real highlight as was Te Puia (cultural village and geothermal area) and very surprisingly the tour of the Hobbiton movie set. Just out of Wellington we also visited another site where Lord of the rings was filmed. We visited 2 wineries ,Church Road, one of the region's oldest where we had a very informative tasting and Crab Farm for a tasting and lunch. Napier itself was also an art deco treat.
    The day we visited Rotorua and the Hobbiton set was very wet but didn't lessen the experiences too much.    Read more

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    Bay of Islands.

    Apr 13–15, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    What a beautiful place especially when the sun is shining. The endless water, sky and hills gives a relaxing and calming feeling. I could live here, especially in the historic town of Russell. We took a boat tour of the islands where we saw many of the 144 islands, motored through a hole in the rock and walked the pastures and beach of one of the islands. We saw and heard evidence of a thriving bird and Marie life, although we didn't see any dolphins or whales today. We left the boat tour at Russell and walked around the town and ate a magnificent seafood lunch along the water front.Read more

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    Last day.

    Apr 15–16, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We drove at a leisurely pace from Paihia to Auckland. A lovely waterfall at Whangarei and some more beautiful coat line. All too soon the trip has ended as we fly out tomorrow morning at 6am.

    Trip end
    April 16, 2024
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