Into Middle Earth

December 5th,2024 – December 15th, 2024

Kia Ora, and welcome to New Zealand! This trip would be special for two incredible reasons. First, this was the last of the six 6 ‘livable’ continents we had to visit: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and now Oceania. But more importantly, it was our Babymoon. That’s right, the Hungry Voyagers are increasing in size!

It’s been a dream of ours to visit all the continents and as soon as the pure ecstasy of that positive test wore off, we looked each other in the eye and said, “Oh shit. We have to go to Oceania.” And thus, the New Zealand trip was born.

Landing and First Day

Getting there was an adventure in itself. We’d have to embark on an 8,250 mile journey around to the other side of the globe, all while Emily was pregnant. A quick flight to Chicago, a medium flight across to Los Angeles, a 9 hour layover, and then a 13 hour beast of a flight across the Pacific Ocean.

Before that beast of a flight, we had to make a quick pit stop in Los Angeles to In-N-Out Burger. Last time we were in the LA, we didn’t get the chance, and we weren’t missing the opportunity again. Our verdict? Actually pretty average. Now, we were at probably the most famous (and busy) location at LAX Airport, so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as it was really busy.

A grueling 20+ hours of traveling later we landed in Auckland, New Zealand. Country number 28 and Continent number 6. The best part? It was 6am here, so we now had an entire day to do things after not sleeping for 20 hours! This was just practice for the little one to come.

We had our rental car delivered to the hotel and couldn’t wait to get out on the road. New Zealand is one of those pesky countries that drive on the left side of the road. I’d only experienced driving on the left side in one other country, Mauritius, and it ended up being pretty easy. After a couple shaky minutes, I felt right at home. It’s not too hard to do, but you have to think twice when you do everything.

In my quest to visit as many football stadiums as possible, we stopped by the ground of Auckland City FC, by far the most successful team in the relatively new New Zealand league, winning 4 out of 5 league titles and 13 Oceania Champions Leagues. They also recently gained worldwide notoriety after playing in the Club World Cup against Bayern Munich and getting a famous draw against Boca Juniors.

The stadium wasn’t our main destination however, it just “happened” to be on the way to Maungawhau, the highest natural point in Auckland. It was a decent walk up, and the heat was deceiving. The sun was real powerful here. It made sense, December was summertime down here and we (Emily) paid the price for our (her) lack of planning (Notice the sunburn later).

Maungawhau is a volcanic cone which blew its lid almost 25,000 years ago. The crater is huge, no photos do it justice. The main selling point of this were the beautiful, panoramic views of Auckland.

All that walking gave us the munchies, we needed pies. In case you didn’t know, Kiwi’s are obsessed with their meat pies. They are everywhere. Every shop, cafe, corner, restaurant. Basically, they love them, and we were about to see why. Nearby was Muzza’s Pies. A small, yellow cafe located on a quiet street in the city. We waited in the short line and got to a small counter with a glass case containing what little pies remained. We went with a Mince Pie and a Mince, Cheese & Jalapeno Pie with 2 cans of L&P and took them outside to the tiny white chairs sat out front.

The pies were great. A buttery, flaky crust surrounded the hot gravy and and minced beef inside. It was very flavorful and the Jalapeno pie had a surprising amount of spice to it. The L&P’s were also great. We had seen that these were a New Zealand favorite and had to try it. It was basically a if a Lacroix and a light lemonade had a baby. After all the climbing in the heat, they hit the spot, until we saw how much sugar was in them. Oh well, we’re on vacation.

For dinner we would be going to an Auckland favorite, Ahi. Here they were dedicated to showcasing the best of New Zealand’s diverse culinary culture through fresh, local ingredients. Perfect.

We wandered around the Commercial Bay mall until stumbling upon the restaurant. It ended up being a lot harder to find than it had to be, but the mall was filled with street food options and the smells were incredible. We end up in a mall most places we go, so it had to checked off in Oceania anyway.

The actual restaurant was incredible. We walked in to an open floor with entire length windows showcasing a 180 degree view of the surrounding city. Behind us was the kitchen, which was completely open for all customers to see. We spent a good chunk of the time watching the chefs meticulously prepare the dishes. There was even a chef that spent a massive chunk of time using tweezers to place flowers on each dish. It felt like we were in The Menu.

I ordered a glass of Mature Vino Pino Noir from Rippon Winery and Emily got herself a fun mocktail. First up was a fresh Te Matuku oyster with garden granita and Morningside cider. The garden granita was essentially herbs blended together and frozen into a a slush on top. The waitress came over with a gun and shot some foam on top, which ended up being the Morningside cider.

Next, White Asparagus with Buffalo Mozzarella, chicken wafers, green peppercorn, and smoked hazelnuts. Again, super fresh and every aspect of the dish had distinct but complementary flavors.

And finally for our Main, a Lumina lamb rump & shoulder with Courgette carpaccio, nasturtium , and Kawakawa. Yeah, it sounded foreign to us too. Basically, it’s lamb with thinly sliced zucchini, flower, and Maori plant. New Zealand is famous for its lamb. If you’ve been to any fancy restaurant, they surely have a NZ Rack of Lamb on the menu, so having it directly from the source was special.

Siri, play ‘Concerning Hobbits’

Next morning we loaded up into the rental and took a 2 hour drive down south towards a special village. The winding roads through rolling, grassy hills and quaint, country farms gave us a sneak peak of the magical realm we were about to enter. Emily and I had binged the Lord of the Rings movies just a couple days before flying, so our minds could only see The Shire everywhere we turned.

Eventually a road sign, Hobbiton Movie Set Tours, and a big green bus plastered with Hobbiton branding pulling out of a parking lot. Something told us we had arrived. It was either that or the millions of people that had congregated outside the waiting area. We signed in and got a ticket for our tour which was in an hour. We hung around and got a Meat Pie from the cafe on site, shocking.

As our time came, we lined up and got on our big green bus plastered with Hobbiton branding. On the short drive to set, our guide told us stories of cast members coming by and doing this tour, and showed a little documentary of how the area was picked out and built the set.

Soon enough, we arrived. We walked down a small, dirt path that winded through the trees. Eventually emerging through in an opening, the famous sign, Hobbiton.

Enjoy the photo dump. It was an incredible experience, made even better by the fact we’d just seen the movies. It’s one of those places that transcend reality and make you feel like magic is real, similarly to Disney World.

The tour ended at the Green Dragon Inn for a pint of Hobbit beer. This was a fun little moment, topped off with the fact that we had now officially had a beer on every continent (except for you Antarctica, maybe one day).

Now it was time to get back into the trusty rental and drive another 2 hours to the city of Rotorua. It was late and we were hungry. A quick search showed that Eat Street was the place to be in Rotorua. This was a walkable food court with restaurants of all kinds. We went with Brew Craft Beer Pub for some homely food, New Zealand Steak over Chips and a pint of a New Zealand Pale Ale.

Before heading back to our AirBNB, we went to load up on snacks at Pak ‘n Save, which I assume is like the Walmart of food here. We had a funny encounter as we were leaving. I must have pulled too close to a Māori family, full with traditional face tattoos and everything. The large lady proceeded to stick out her tongue and eye my down, leading to the famous quote, “I almost got haka’d on by a Māori lady at a Pak ‘n Save in Rotorua”. Just a couple days ago that would have been pure gibberish to us.

Geothermal Wonderland

Rotorua is a geothermal town, similar to when we went to Hveragerði in Iceland. Because of this, it reeks like eggs everywhere. I’m not joking. it absolutely stinks. Everywhere.

Kuirau Park was just one of many geothermal hotspots in the area, with scorching hot springs bubbling and sizzling away. It was a cool little spot to go for a walk, but once you’ve seen one hot spring, I think you’ve seen them all.

Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve was like the previous place but on steroids.

Whakarewarewa Redwoods Forest

That night we had, probably our favorite meal of the trip. Nestled away about a 5 minute walk from Eat Street is Number 8 Wire, an unassuming, hole in the wall restaurant.

I ordered the the Hawkes Bay Rack of Lamb with a Port Wine Jus sauce and a red wine from the local winery, Volcanic Hills. The lamb had been raised and butchered about 3 hours from the restaurant, and the wine was made less than 30 minutes away. It was absolutely incredible, one of my favorite meals throughout these travels we’ve done. These are the moments I wish I was a better writer to better portray how it was. You could taste the freshness. It tasted real. It was meaty, tender. The jus was rich and a perfect complement to the lamb.

The South Island

The next day we’d be flying out of the tiny Rotorua Airport to hop on over to New Zealand’s Southern Island. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. There was one gate, no security, and maybe like 3 guys outside that brought the plane in and checked everything.

Don’t get me wrong, the North Island was a great time, but the South Island was magical in comparison.

We’d be staying an Airbnb in Queenstown, right on Lake Wakatipu, overlooking The Remarkables mountain Range. To say the views were remarkable would be an understatement but, then again, for the next couple of days I could say the same thing at any time and it would be true.

We put our bags away and took the rental on a scenic drive following the lake to Glenorchy. I really wish I was a more talented writer, so I could write beautiful poetry to you about the endless mountain ranges, the milky turquoise blue lake water, the winding roads that went up and down, or the lush green trees that dotted the landscapes. But I’m not. So I’ll say this instead. This was the most beautiful drive I have ever done.

Glenorchy was a tiny town that sat on Lake Wakatipu at the base of the Humboldt mountains. We parked up at the scenic walkway and went for a stroll. If I could bottle this air up and sell it, I’d be a millionaire. It just felt fresh.

At one point I went to press Emily to pose with the ultrasound of our baby, and an older Asian lady pointed and smiled, “Oh, Baby. Baby!”. She then grabbed the arm of a man in her group who was holding a big, expensive camera and pressed him to take a photo of us with Emily’s iPhone. He pointed the phone at us and did some tweaking with settings I’ve never seen before and handed it back. Kind people everywhere.

Back at the AirBnb and only a beautiful 5 minute walk down the lake was Altitude Brewing. Nestled on the lake with a backdrop of mountains, it’s one of the most scenic breweries we’ve visited. Untappd ratings out of 5:

Queenstown Lager – Lager – 3.00
Mischievous Kea – IPA – 4.25
First Ascent – Pilsner – 4.50

Milford Sound

The next day we were up bright and early at 6am for a day of adventure. This wasn’t any adventure, this was the adventure to do while in New Zealand: the Milford Sound. This was an all day, 10 hours of driving tour that we booked.

Our tour guide for the day was an Irish guy that moved to New Zealand and never went back. I wish I remembered his name, he was the perfect guide for the day. It’s a grueling task to, not only drive that distance, but to keep a minivan filled with people entertained for that long of a time, and he smashed orit. His knowledge of New Zealand’s history, animals, and plants was so interesting.

The first major stop was on our roadtrip was Te Anau, the last town before the Milford Sound.

We stopped outside a restaurant for lunch which, I’m assuming, the tour company has a deal with so that people will go inside. Earlier in the drive we had got talking to the guide about food and he recommended we skip the tour restaurant and walk 5 minutes down the road to Miles Better Pies. He said the Venison and Plum Pie here is the best pie he’d ever eaten.

This particular stop was the greatest moment of the trip for me. The most, holy shit this is gorgeous moment.

Our guide was really passionate about conservation and New Zealands wildlife, and constantly mentioned the Kea. He told us how endangered there are now, only about 5,000 left in the wild. We were lucky enough to see a couple, living up to their reputation, trying to destroy somebodies car.

It already felt like we’d had the tour with everything we’d seen, but now we had finally made it to the Milford Sound itself. There were millions of people here, unloading from bus after bus. We waited in a terminal until our number was called, then loaded onto the ship that would take us up and down the Sound.

If the entire trip had been just this, it would have been worth it.

Wine Country

Over the next couple of days, we’d be driving north, stopping at a new town each night. For the first day of our great Northern Migration we’d be doing our own tour of Central Otago, one of the many world renowned wine regions in New Zealand. Let me tell you, I’ve never seen so many wineries in one place in my life. Every 5 minutes there were signs for a different winery.

Emily obviously couldn’t drink but I had taken on the noble quest of trying many different wines and taking home the best of the best. I know, I know. I’m somewhat of a hero.

The first stop was Felton Road Winery. This place was highly regarded, so much that we had to email them and ask if we could visit. On the tour with us was a French family that drove up in an RV. If you drew a traditional old French family it would be these people, and they absolutely reeked of cheese. It was a standard winery tour. We were taken around the premises, lectured about the grapes, and shown the process of creating the wines. Then came the tasting.

We didn’t tell the tour guide in time that Emily wouldn’t be tasting, and her first pour had to be dumped, prompting the old French man to tut and sigh. It was hilarious. They get a bad rep, but I love the French. The wine here was actually amazing. I ended up buying a bottle of the Felton Road 2023 Calvert Pinot Noir. Maybe in 5 years when we open it we’ll do a review.

Next on our stop was Carrick Winery. This wasn’t a traditional winery, it was more of a restaurant. We didn’t want any food and headed out back to an amazing overlook of the valley. Here, we ordered wine from a truck and looked out over the lake. I couldn’t tell you what I got, but it was decent, not as good as Felton, but still decent.

Next up was Mt. Difficulty Wines. There was no tour here, but I went with a tasting of multiple wines. Now I know almost nothing about wine. I know if I like something, but I have no idea about all the terminology and intricacies of what makes a good wine. This tasting was just me and the bartender. He would talk like 5 minutes describing a single wine then pour me a taste and just stare at me. What are you supposed to do in a situation like this. I tried my best. Swirl the wine around the glass, think real hard when tasting it, give a slight nod of the head, “Ah yes. Good”. They actually were good too, I just didn’t know how to say it.

I ended up buying a bottle of the Mt Difficulty 2021 Ghost Town Syrah. We’ll include it in the review of our New Zealand wines in 5 years time. Great place, still not as good as Felton though.

That Wanaka Tree

I’d had all the wine I could stomach, it was time to get to our first overnight stop, Wanaka. A tree here had gone viral. Yes, a tree. So much so that it gained the nickname “That Wanaka Tree”. Located on Lake Wanaka (creative name), it sits out on the water with a stunning backdrop of the Southern Alps. There were a ton of people here, all getting that perfect Instagram photo. It is a beautiful spot. The water is so blue, I still couldn’t get that out of my head. The air is cool and fresh. Its the type of air you want to breathe in all the time.

National Pie Dish

We’d already had many examples of the New Zealand national dish. How could we not? Pies were everywhere. But in our rankings of the greatest national dishes in the world, we only wanted to count the best, and that took us to Kai Pai Bakery in Wanaka. This little bakery was the recipient of a gold medal for their Mince and Cheese Pie at the 27th NZ Bakels Supreme Pie Awards. Yeah they have Pie competitions here, loads of them.

The bakery itself was a small shop located off the beaten road. Like any other bakery, their arrangement of pies sat behind a glass cage, tempting you in with their smells. And trust me, it smelled incredible in here.

There was only one option for us, the Mince and Cheese, only $5 a pie. It looked like any other of the 10 pies we’d eaten since being in New Zealand, and that wasn’t a bad thing. The crust was buttery and flaky. The beef inside was tender and covered in a rich beefy gravy and creamy, melted cheese. This was some real home cooked comfort food, I could eat these all day.

We both agreed, our favorite pie of the trip, slightly edging out the Venison and Plum pie in Te Anau.

Wanaka was such a nice, little town. We spent our time walking along the waterfront, ate some slow cooked meat at Big Fig Wanaka and drank at Wanaka Brew Bar. I even got a tattoo to commemorate visiting 6 continents.

Oh yeah and we stopped by the “stadium” of the local football team, Wanaka FC, a small 3rd division side that had beaten all odds and just been promoted to the 2nd division.

Tekapo

Next up in our northern journey was Lake Tekapo, a 2.5 hour drive north. These seem like long hours to be driving, but the scenery here is just unreal. Even though we’d been here for a bit now, we were still in awe of just everything. In terms of pure beauty, I think only Iceland rivals it.

We stopped at Lake Pukaki at the Mt Cook Alpine Salmon Shop. If I smell salmon within a 5 miles radius, I’m hunting it down and eating it, and this wasn’t any type of salmon. This was salmon from Cooks water. Who is Cook you may ask? You’ll find out later. Yeah the salmon was great, really fresh.

Tekapo is a tiny town, but it was gorgeous. The photos do the water no justice, it is the most milky, turquoise color you can imagine.

For dinner we sat on the lake and had a food truck, The Better Batter, for some NZ Style Fish and Chips. Everyone raved about this place online, but I thought it was pretty mediocre. The fish was small and mostly greasy batter, and the chips were just mid. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled with Yorkshire Fish and Chips.

The view weren’t too bad though.

Tekapo is located within one of the largest dark sky reserves in the world. Because of the minimal light pollution, it’s one of the best places in the world to stargaze. It’s so good, that you can often see the milky way with your naked eye. We had bad look when it came to astronomical beauties. We’d been promised Northern Lights in Iceland and missed out on that, but this would be different.

We piled into a clunky van and drove up the hills until stopping in the middle of nowhere. Once there, the guides sat us around in a circle and talked about the stars for 20 minutes, showed us Saturn in the telescope, took a photo, then called it a night. We did not see the milky way. 0/2.

Getting Cooked on Cook

Today was the day. We’d been talking about him the entire trip: Cook. Mt Cook / Aoraki is the tallest mountain in New Zealand and home to an absolutely beautiful hike, the Hooker Valley Trail.

I’d been tracking the weather for the past couple of days. One day it looked good, the other, not so good. As we got closer, rainclouds and rainbows loomed over the mountains.

And as we turned into the park, it became all too clear to us that the hike would be closed. Rain dumped down as we twisted and turned through the hills, crossed one lane bridges, and hugged the coastline of Lake Pukaki. We were surrounded by huge, snow capped mountains on either side and, occasionally, Cook peaked through, taunting us.

There was still a visitor center which we read about the area, including books filled with people who died trying to climb Cook. I mean there were like 7 of these things filled with pages of people dying. “John Smith made it halfway then fell down a ravine and was never seen again”, that type of shit.

We also sat down at the Old Mountaineers Cafe for the most New Zealand meal we could conjure up: Mince and Cheese Pie, L&P, and a Lolly Cake. You cant get more Kiwi than that. We’d heard about Lolly Cakes since we landed, but could never find one. They’re real popular over here, but we thought it tasted strange. Very sweet and chalky.

Luckily for us, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, there was still a hike we could do: the Tasman Glacier View Track, a small 30ish min hike that gave us incredible views of Tasman Lake and the surrounding mountains. It wasn’t Hooker Valley, but it scratched that hiking itch for us.

It was absolutely pouring it down and freezing. We loved it and joked around saying it’ll be a great story to tell our child, “Your Mum was such a badass that at 4 months pregnant she hiked up the side of a New Zealand mountain in the freezing rain”.

We got back to our car and changed out of our cold, wet clothes before beginning the 3 hour drive back to Queenstown for a last afternoon in New Zealand before we flew back home.

We walked around downtown Queenstown, bought some souvenirs, and stopped at Mrs Ferg for a Hokey Pokey Gelato. Hokey Pokey is a popular flavor in New Zealand, essentially vanilla with honeycomb toffee. You can’t go wrong with those flavors, it was so tasty.