After the difficult year I had, everything came together just in time for our long planned trip to New Zealand in December. For months, we thought we might have to cancel, and I did not truly believe we would go until the last week of November, when my lab results came back fairly normal. Sometimes miracles do happen, and we were able to spend the entire month in New Zealand.
My husband is the best tour organizer you can imagine, and he had everything planned out beautifully. We spent the first half of our trip on the North Island, then flew to Christchurch on the South Island, and even made it to Stewart Island for a couple of days.
It was a fantastic trip and a much needed break. We were lucky enough to see penguins in the wild and even spotted kiwis on Stewart Island, which was a wonderful experience. I will leave you today with a gallery of my favourite pictures.
Pōhutukawa (New Zealand Christmas Tree)
Whangārei Falls
Cape Reinga Lighthouse
(New Zealand’s northernmost point)
Tāne Mahuta (aka God of the Forest), the largest living Kauri tree
Muriwai Gannet Colony
Auckland
Weka (Māori Hen), the sign reads “Flying is Overrated”
Kererū or Kūkupa (New Zealand Wood Pigeon)
Cathedral Cove
Kererū Geyser at Te Puia
Māori Cultural Presentation at Te Puia
Shire’s Rest Hobbiton
So many quilts at Hobbiton
Another one
And another one
New pillows being made behind the scenes
Crocheted Shelob
Hobbiton
Cape Egmont Lighthouse (Mount Taranaki in the background)
Mount Taranaki and Lake Mangamahoe
Mount Ngauruhoe aka Mount Doom
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
Mud Pools at Wai-O-Tapu
Rotorua Government Gardens
Kuirau Park Rotorua
Pūkeko (Australasian Swamphen)
Harakeke Flower (New Zealand Flax)
At Lake Matheson
Hokitika
The Remarkables near Queenstown
Kea at Monkey Creek
Tihaka Beach
Koropuku Falls
Nugget Point Lighthouse
Kiwi
Kiwi
Fern
Pāua Shell
Albatross
Elephant Seal (they live in Antarctica and are only rarely seen in New Zealand)
So glad you were able to travel to New Zealand. My husband has health challenges that in recent years have made our plans to travel a question. Getting away for an entire month is such a blessing when it happens! Take care and thank you for the wonderful quilt patterns you have shared.
Hi Beatrice ,
Thanks for the tour of New Zealand ! Wow ! Amazing photos ! The colours of the NZ wood pigeon ! All those colours ! Photo 29 , the three seagulls, beautiful framing 🙂 That Kea ! I never new ! I went and googled. Did you see the inside/underneath of their wings ? A gannet Colony must have sounded and looked amazing ! You made it to Hobbiton ! Thanks for sharing a picture of yourself:) What an experience !
Take care, Joanne
I was a bit obsessed with birds 😀 Someone recommended the Merlin Bird ID app to me, and New Zealand has so many unusual birds that only live there, we were quite busy taking pictures of birds. Kea are very smart birds. The ones at Monkey Creek though are used to tourists and mostly just fly around from car roof to car roof, no chance to really look at the underside of their wings. This time there was only one Kea around, it was raining quite heavily. His favourite pastime was trying to pull the rubber seal out between the door and the frame of the car. He would hop from car to car and always move to where someone tried to open a door. I got pretty wet in the rain trying to get back in without damage to either the car or the bird. I think he thought it was a fun game. I didn’t enjoy it as much 😀
My husband is a big LOTR fan, and we took the extended Behind The Scenes Tour at Hobbiton this time which was great. And although we agreed on the flight back that we had seen pretty much everything we wanted in NZ, he was looking at other Hobbiton tours last weekend… so who knows!
Wow Beatrice! Those pictures are so amazing and very beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing them. I am very happy that you are feeling better and were able to go. It must have been a wonderful experience.
I’m very glad that your health was good enough for you and your husband to go on vacation. The pictures are fabulous. I wish you continued good health.
Thanks for sharing all the great pictures!! I’ve always wanted to go to Australia (close, but no cigar!!) but New Zealand is close enough. 🙂 To see so many new animals (birds) and beautiful scenery of a place I’ll never see in person is so special. Thanks so much!!
Thank you for sharing these fabulous pictures. New Zealand is on my bucket list, so glad you got to go and enjoy. You did a great job of capturing on film so many amazing animals and scenery. Thank you again for sharing.
What an amazing country. I did a cruise around the island a couple of years ago and didn’t see as much as you. I definitely want to go back. Glad you had a great break and plenty of memories. xx
What a wonderful trip! My husband and I dream about taking a similar vacation and have since the early years of our marriage. Our 47th anniversary is coming up this summer, so we better get to it lol! Thank you so much for sharing your great photos!
Good morning Beatrice! I enjoyed your breathtaking pictures so much. New Zealand is beautiful. Thank you for sharing them! We are in the depths of winter here in New York State in the U.S. so pictures of the tropics were a treat.
The photos are wonderful. Thank you for sharing and naming what was in the photo. I know you had to have enjoyed this trip so much.
What a beautiful vacation I’m glad you were feeling well enough to go.
Thank you for sharing this with me. I am glad that you were able to experience your wonderful trip.
We were in New Zealand last January. So glad that you had an amazing trip also.
So glad you were able to travel to New Zealand. My husband has health challenges that in recent years have made our plans to travel a question. Getting away for an entire month is such a blessing when it happens! Take care and thank you for the wonderful quilt patterns you have shared.
Hi Beatrice ,
Thanks for the tour of New Zealand ! Wow ! Amazing photos ! The colours of the NZ wood pigeon ! All those colours ! Photo 29 , the three seagulls, beautiful framing 🙂 That Kea ! I never new ! I went and googled. Did you see the inside/underneath of their wings ? A gannet Colony must have sounded and looked amazing ! You made it to Hobbiton ! Thanks for sharing a picture of yourself:) What an experience !
Take care, Joanne
I was a bit obsessed with birds 😀 Someone recommended the Merlin Bird ID app to me, and New Zealand has so many unusual birds that only live there, we were quite busy taking pictures of birds. Kea are very smart birds. The ones at Monkey Creek though are used to tourists and mostly just fly around from car roof to car roof, no chance to really look at the underside of their wings. This time there was only one Kea around, it was raining quite heavily. His favourite pastime was trying to pull the rubber seal out between the door and the frame of the car. He would hop from car to car and always move to where someone tried to open a door. I got pretty wet in the rain trying to get back in without damage to either the car or the bird. I think he thought it was a fun game. I didn’t enjoy it as much 😀
My husband is a big LOTR fan, and we took the extended Behind The Scenes Tour at Hobbiton this time which was great. And although we agreed on the flight back that we had seen pretty much everything we wanted in NZ, he was looking at other Hobbiton tours last weekend… so who knows!
The pictures were absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful picture. Glad you got to enjoy and relax with in such an amazing place
Thank you for this incredible slide show!!!
Wow Beatrice! Those pictures are so amazing and very beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing them. I am very happy that you are feeling better and were able to go. It must have been a wonderful experience.
I’m very glad that your health was good enough for you and your husband to go on vacation. The pictures are fabulous. I wish you continued good health.
Thanks for sharing all the great pictures!! I’ve always wanted to go to Australia (close, but no cigar!!) but New Zealand is close enough. 🙂 To see so many new animals (birds) and beautiful scenery of a place I’ll never see in person is so special. Thanks so much!!
Thank you for the pictures, you have taken me to a place that was truly interesting and unique
Thank you for sharing these fabulous pictures. New Zealand is on my bucket list, so glad you got to go and enjoy. You did a great job of capturing on film so many amazing animals and scenery. Thank you again for sharing.
Beautiful pictures. So glad that you are feeling better.
What an amazing country. I did a cruise around the island a couple of years ago and didn’t see as much as you. I definitely want to go back. Glad you had a great break and plenty of memories. xx
What a wonderful trip! My husband and I dream about taking a similar vacation and have since the early years of our marriage. Our 47th anniversary is coming up this summer, so we better get to it lol! Thank you so much for sharing your great photos!
Good morning Beatrice! I enjoyed your breathtaking pictures so much. New Zealand is beautiful. Thank you for sharing them! We are in the depths of winter here in New York State in the U.S. so pictures of the tropics were a treat.
The photos are incredible! Thank you for sharing. I am most happy that you were well enough to go to New Zealand.