Last minute trips are what I get really excited over, and I planned this short trip to New Zealand with my family about a month before we went. However we didn’t finalize any of the details until about 2 days before our flight. My family is very much accustomed to this type of craziness, but fortunately with all the resources available on the internet it’s not difficult to figure out where to go and what to see. Our flight departed San Francisco and we arrived in Auckland about twenty minutes early. It took nearly two hours to get out of the airport, to claim our bags and get through customs processing and the strict agricultural checks when entering New Zealand.
There are numerous multinational car rental companies operating in New Zealand, however we decided to rent our car from Omega Rental Cars which is a very popular New Zealand rental car agency. After a five minute shuttle ride to the rental car office, we got settled into our car and my husband quickly got used to driving on the opposite side of the road (this being the 2nd time he had done this).
This is what we were able to do in 3 days….
Day 1
HAMILTON ZOO/GLOW WORM CAVE
Hamilton Zoo
The drive time from Auckland Airport to Hamilton Zoo is about one and a half hours.
We enjoy visiting zoos in other countries so this was the first stop on our itenerary for this trip. We love all zoos, however my family especially likes smaller ones that are a bit far away from city centers where they typically have a more local feel and they’re not so touristy, and Hamilton Zoo was definitely that kind of zoo. Although, we missed the animal feedings for the day we still got to see some neat animals in the two to three hours we were there. The layout of this zoo allows you to see nearly all the animals up close, but the Rhinos were our favorite to watch. Be sure to check their website to learn about special events and more info. Since it was summer in New Zealand, my kids and husband were thrilled to find ice cream vending machines throughout the zoo! They didn’t waste any time after seeing these and each got some ice pops. For an authentic Kiwi experience, try the L&P flavored Fruju pops!
Waitomo Glow Worm Cave
After continuing our journey and grabbing a quick lunch at a local restaurant along the way, we headed to the Waitomo Glow Worm Cave, a forty minute drive from Hamilton Zoo. The further we got away from Auckland we discovered that cellular phone reception wasn’t consistent, therefore I highly recommend using Google Maps and downloading maps on your phone to use offline when there’s no cellular data connectivity. Having a paper map of the area is also a good idea. We arrived at Waitomo and discovered several tour options available, and we choose to only do the Glow Worm Cave Tour among the three Cave Tours offered. We visited during the peak of New Zealand’s summer in January, so entering the cool cave was a nice relief from the heat outside.
There’s a snack bar at the area where you wait for the cave tour to start, which is stocked with several drinks and goodies including ice cream. So my husband and kids had to get some more ice cream, this time discovering a flavor unique to New Zealand called Hokey Pokey consisting of vanilla ice cream with small chunks of honeycomb toffee. Absolutely delicious!
After a brief hike with the cave guide down the hill and into the cave where there’s an initial walking portion with plenty of interesting sights and rock formations, we got on a boat which takes you through the dark cave where you can see the glow worms. Seeing all the worms with their blue-green glow on the ceiling of the caves was mesmerizing. The boat ride itself takes about 10-15 minutes and covers a short distance, finishing outside the cave and where you get to walk a beautiful path along the water and then back up the hill to the exit. We were so glad that we did this tour because it was a unique experience for us (though at the time we didn’t even realize all the experiences in store for us later in the trip!)
At this point, we were all feeling the jetlag set in so we headed to our first house to stay for the night. I don’t recall exactly which website we used to book it, however there are numerous websites avaialble for hotel, apartment, or vacation house rentals. As during all our travels, a stop at the local grocery store is essential for any trip, and I was especially excited to get some fresh fruits and veggies, and some fresh meats to cook back at the apartment. Upon arriving at our first accomodation, the kids were utterly thrilled by what they saw. We stayed at a newly built small but modern two bedroom guest house on a working cattle and sheep farm, just a short walk from the owners’ main home. The kids were excited to see the farm and all the animals, with some sheep and cows coming up to the fence to check us out. We were greeted by the lovely owner and her dog and she gave us a quick tour of the place and was so impressionable and accomodating. This place was just so wonderful in every way. The next morning, our kids even got to help feed the chickens and baby calves.
