Kia Ora - Kauai to Middle Earth with My Beautiful Little Sis!
I absolutely love traveling, exploring & adventuring... Aoteatoa (New Zealand) has been on the top of my bucket list for sometime.... I was finally was able to take a few weeks off work and experience a lil taste of it's amazing beauty! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be such an endless adventure! I went with my lil sister who lives to travel, the few weeks we spent there was so not enough, I totally need like 6 months minimum there! haha Endless beauty everywhere, would take a lifetime to even begin to see half of it! Here is a lil taste of some of our favorites from the trip... We did everything from wineries, dairy farms, diving, swimming with dolphins, sand surfing on the dunes, horseback riding, surfing, boating, eating the most amazing fresh foods, camping on the beach, visiting waterfalls, kayaking through sea caves, hiking, checking out hobbit homes and so much more….. We spent the 1st day/night after we arrived in this charming little beach cottage in gorgeous Te Hanga just above Auckland… It was like a dream!
We then traveled up the coast exploring winery's, dairy and sheep farms, camping, along the way till we came across the Bay of Island! We where originally planning to just stay one night, but loved it so much we ended up staying 3 nights! Went swimming with dolphins, boating, diving, scuba diving over a shipwreck and sailing around the many beautiful lil islands. The seafood was amazing there too!
Continued up the coast and explored some waterfalls and more farms, and beaches along the way...
Drove all the way up to the very North tip, Cape Reinga, surfed the huge sand dunes along the way, found a sweet little beach cottage on 90 mile beach for only $20 a night.
Slept on the beach on an amazingly clear starry night at Piha Beach and had breakfast at the yummiest lil artsy cafe - Piha Cafe.
Explored more waterfalls and came across a beautiful ranch on the hills fronting Ruapuke Beach, booked an amazing horseback ride with Ruapuke Wildcoast Horse Treks through the hills and down to the beach and ended up staying the night in one of their sweet lil ranch cabins…
Checked out some sweet as Maori art and culture..
Explored some beautiful redwood forest and fresh water springs...
Watched the sunset over the hills of Ragland found a sweet lil cabin at Manu Bay and got to surf an epic morning session!
Met up with a childhood friend from Kauai who married a Kiwi and lives in NZ. Got to do a fun family portrait session for them...
Visited Hobbiton, checked out Bilbo Baggins Home and enjoyed some Fine Ale at The Green Dragon. Loved it!
Kayaked through sea caves and explored The Coromandel Peninsula, Mercury Bay, Hot Water Beach and Hahei.
Hiked into Te Whanganui-A Hei (Cathedral Cove) for an amazing sunrise...
I absolutely am planning on going back to New Zealand soon and exploring more, hopefully head down to the South Island too…. Can't say enough of how beautiful it is there and how nice the people are! Feel so blessed to have experienced and shared this amazing trip with my sister!