In my thoughts about big travel, I have dreamed about going to Australia with no idea why or what I would do when I got there. On our last bike travel to the Golden Isles of Georgia, another couple in the group mentioned going to New Zealand and how much fun they had. When we got home, we looked it up and we booked the VBT biking and hiking tour of New Zealand.

Was traveling to New Zealand the trip of my lifetime? I am not sure, but it was a great time. I do know for sure I would like to go back.

We really liked the tour and believe we received the experiences we were looking for when we signed up. The scenery was even better than I could have imagined and the pictures do not do them justice. Also, we had a fun group, good guides, and wonderful accommodations. It did rain, and it did not dampen our experiences one bit!

Here are a few things I learned about New Zealand.

• It is a big country, but it was just right for a few weeks of exploring.  We saw the Pacific Ocean on the east coast and the Tasman Sea on the west coast.
• New Zealand has rain forests, tall mountains, friendly people, and beautiful scenery of almost all descriptions.
• In January, summer in the southern hemisphere was in full force. We picked a good time to visit. However, we did discover that from late December (Christmas) until almost mid-January the country is on holiday. We were fortunate enough to arrive as the country was getting back into the new year.
• Not too many bugs, but sand flies or fleas can sometimes be bad near the water. Fortunately, the wind kept them mostly away from us.
• With flightless birds, natural predators were non-existent before the introduction of small animals intended for food or companionship, including cats and dogs. Dogs are discouraged on trails that may have flightless birds (like Kiwis) on them.
• I cannot wait to go back and enjoy another trip during summer in New Zealand.

There was a lot I did not know about New Zealand, prior to signing up for our travel. New Zealand is an island country consisting of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island. We knew that in New Zealand they drive on the “other side” of the road. We did not know that New Zealand has three official languages, English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language.  We knew about English. Māori is from the native Polynesian roots and is being re-introduced. We learned a few phrases on our journey as well as song taught to us by our guides.

What I did know prior to signing up for the journey is that it is summer in the southern hemisphere when it is winter where I live. I wanted to go to an English-speaking country where my language skills would help me get along on the travels just fine.

In hindsight, I had on my “bucket list” going to Australia. I am glad we instead chose New Zealand. Australia sounds like an exotic, yet still English-speaking destination. New Zealand fit this thought as well with a bonus bike tour and the Lord of the Rings dramatic scenery within a limited amount of geography.

New Zealand has a lush countryside due to the frequency and amounts of rainfall it receives. We rock bright yellow rain or wind jackets (they look the same in the pictures) because we were on a bike tour and the color is visible. We did not take that much luggage and are seen in the same outfits for most of our pictures.

We landed on New Zealand’s North Island and spent our first few days in Auckland. We did our best to see all of Auckland and could have spent a little longer exploring this city.

We did an e-bike ride in Auckland on our first day in town. It was a good way to defeat jet lag from our 16-hour flight. The leader of the Power to the Pedal! gave us a GPS animation of our ride: https://www.relive.cc/view/vdvm3YxK8N6. We really enjoyed the ride, and as Auckland has several hills, the e-bikes were a good call.

We enjoyed walking around Auckland and hiked over 10 miles on a guided hike from Domain Park. What an enjoyable garden and path from Domain Park back to the city center. I was encouraged by our guide to try, and I enjoyed, the “flat white” hot coffee. If you get to New Zealand, and you like coffee, you should give it a try.

We satisfied my need to see the Shire in the middle of the North Island. I knew that parts of the movies (The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit) were filmed in New Zealand. I can see why the site we visited was selected for representing Hobbiton. As part of my journey, I re-read the Hobbit; after our visit to the Hobbiton movie set, I can see it come to life. If you are a fan of the books or the movies, or have never given them a thought, the visit to the Hobbiton movie set was wonderful. As part of our tour, we had lunch, just outside of the Green Dragon Inn. It was very festive and tasty. We took advantage of our visit to the Shire in the middle of New Zealand.

I did get a few runs in while in Auckland. I appreciated the rainbow after the morning rain. Also, I did a run in the mist and enjoyed the downtown overhanging protection while I ran.

We liked the many parks in Auckland. I was able to “play” disc golf in Domain Park. The only disc golf courses nearby were object courses. So, just playing in the park was the same as playing on an object course where you aim for trees, rocks, or other features of the area.

It was still just after Christmas in mid-January when we visited Auckland. We were surprised that the boxing day (December 26) sales were still on almost 3 weeks later.

We really enjoyed our visit to the North Island and Auckland. We concluded this part of the journey with a trip to the airport to start our biking and hiking tour of the South Island. That is part two of the blog.