Burrows, Caves, Trees, Hills and SHEEP!--Nature of New Zealand

Our adventures in New Zealand continued! We loved exploring the North Island. We did not make it up to Whangarei or down to Wellington, but we did a LOT between them. That just gives us an excuse to go back! We loved seeing the rolling green hills and admiring the tree-lined roads and farms. 

We had to laugh that when we passed some sheep just outside Auckland, Lady Hiva yelled "sheep!" as a memory of our trip to Ireland last year. Without missing a beat, both Muggles said "Baaaaaaa!" loudly. We all laughed about that the rest of the trip! 

One of the stops we made was Hobbiton in the middle of farm country. We are not huge Lord of the Rings or Hobbit fans, but this was one of our favorite stops on the trip. We were glad we went, even if it was to just be outside in nature for several hours. 

As we toured around the Hobbiton village, you can see the Turtle made his appearances everywhere! HAHA

They now allow you to go into two of the burrows, they really did so well planning and creating a story around the families that live in the homes. We had fun exploring and seeing all of the small details that let us understand the family that lived there. 

Everything in the house was built at 86% of normal size, so it was just a little small. But it was cozy. We all decided we could live there! 

Look at that view!!! We could have all been there for awhile. 

We tried some Ginger Beer. I like ginger...but the carbonation was WAY too much for me. It is amazing how you forget that burn when you stop drinking soda. 

The area where Hobbiton was built is so picturesque. Rolling green hills and farms that are dotted with sheep and trees. Then they really did do a good job with the Hobbit village. It is well maintained and a work of art mastery. 

You can tell that Lady Hiva and I both miss our garden and flowers by the amount of photos we both took of just flowers around the area!

We could not pass up the opportunity to have more New Zealand ice cream!

 We also went to the Glow Worm Caves in Waitomo. Sadly, they do not allow you to take photos within the caves, but it was a really cool experience. It is silent as you go through, almost a reverence. We had a fun Maori tour guide who told us stories of her ancestors and even sang a Maori chant for us down in the cathedral part of the cave among the stalactites and stalagmites. 

The river going into the cave. It provides small flies and bugs for the glow worms to catch with their feelers that stretch down from the ceiling of the cave. 

We loved being outside the whole time in New Zealand. We experienced and explored so much but realize there is SO MUCH more that we could do! We will just have to go back! 

Up next on the blog...our time in Rotorua! Stay tuned!