New Zealand

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Day 368: Hobbit Hangover Hideaway
12. Januar 2025 in Neuseeland ⋅ 🌬 61 °F
We woke up groggy and ill prepared for sun shining into the hostel room. Everyone was feeling the drinks from last night and Doyle valiantly found a pie brunch spot nearby to solve our woes. Ends up the spot was super bougie and only had two pies; we walk end dress like drunken sailors and sit down to a very nice meal.

Doyle and Kieran made plans to watch Raven’s football at a bar, but before we stopped at Hataitai Park where scenes like the hobbits hiding from the Nazgûl were filmed as well as Frodo reading his book. Mary was not interested in football or more drinking so she stayed home to read.

Doyle and Kieran returned back to JJ Murpheys and met a 21 year old named Andrew who had the attention span of a golden retriever. You couldn’t finish answering his question without him interrupting and asking another one. He followed them to Garage Project Brewery where they met 40 year old Australian Huge. It was quite the age range, but they had a fabulous time.

Doyle and Kieran returned for some pho dinner, South Park, and sleep.

Spots:
WellingtonWeiterlesen
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Day 369: Tongariro National Park Again
13. Januar 2025 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
Woke up, grabbed coffee, and began our 3.5 hour journey back north. We stopped at the Fork & Brew which makes incredible and unique craft beer like Miso Stouts. Doyle got his official Wellington t-shirt as well.

Our planned accommodation was a little farm on a hill side where this cute little grandma made us muffins, cookies, and brought fresh eggs. She had goats and cows and we could hear kids playing in a pool outside. Doyle said he loves cities but New Zealand helps him appreciate the more rural sites.

We sneak in a post drive nap and then head up to Tongariro again for one last little hike. It was a waterfall hike through marshes and woodlands. We also drove to the peak top to sea the closed ski resort. Kieran didn’t want to at first but it was totally worth it.

We closed out the day at the Powderkeg pub and the waitress was amazing; she gave great recommendations on beer and activities. An absolute sweetheart.

Restaurant: Powder Keg

Spots:
Raetihi
Tongariro National Park
Waitonga Falls
Turoa Ski Resort
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Day 370: Geothermal Wonderland
14. Januar 2025 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F
As our last full day in New Zealand, today's mission was volcanoes volcanoes volcanoes!

Our first stop was the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. This large park includes several geothermal lakes, including Champagne Pool and the Lady Knox Geyser. The geyser erupts once per day at 10:15am, which we unfortunately missed. We still got to enjoy the rest of the park and were amazed by the Champagne Pool. At 213ft, it's the deepest geothermal pool in all of NZ.

The next stop on the drive was Rotorua, which is a town inside the crater of a super volcano (like Yellowstone). We found a gondola park that had wine tasting and the gondola ride as a package deal. We tried some local NZ wine while enjoying a scenic view of the crater.

On the gondola ride down, we jump into a car with another older man. Ends up he works at the park and was chatting us up to get our opinion. We end up talking about mountain biking and he asks us if we know about Crank Works. Kieran gets to hilariously answer, "Uh yes, my cousin actually kind of owns it." The guy is like Darren Kennard?!?!

Ends up the Rotorua park is the first stop on the Crank Works mountain biking tour and this guy probably was the event manager. He says to tell Darren hello and got a picture of him and Kieran.

We spend remaining time picking up souvenirs to bring home; Doyle and Kieran also wanted to stop by KFC because they had this summer bucket hat deal and they just had to have it.

Spots:
Geothermal Wonderland
Rotorua
HamiltonWeiterlesen
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Day 371: That’s All Folks
15. Januar 2025 in Kanada ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F
Well this is the end of an incredible and unforgettable year. We send thanks to our friends, family, and coworkers who contributed financially and emotionally to our well-being this year and for those friends we met along the way.

Flight time: 14 Hours to Vancouver

Even though we left New Zealand January 15 at 2:00pm we will arrive at the Vancouver airport January 15 at 6:15 am.

Made our way across the city on metro and ferry to Aunt Patty who picked us up and drove to Pemberton. It’s no longer summer and we were greeted with cold cold Canadian north.

We plan to spend the next 2 months skiing and driving across America. We will continue posting in each new ski mountain, but otherwise we thank everyone for sticking along with us and reading our stories.

Love Mary and Kieran 🎿🎿⛷️⛷️Weiterlesen
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Ende der Reise
15. Januar 2025

Day 368: Hobbit Hangover Hideaway

Day 369: Tongariro National Park Again

Day 370: Geothermal Wonderland

Day 371: That’s All Folks