I am not funny, China is funny.: New Zealand: The North Island

I have noticed that living life as an expat has changed the way I see a city when we travel. Instead of just taking in the city as a tourist, I picture myself living there. New Zealand proved to be no different. I found myself checking out the schools as we walked along the streets and wondering which house would be perfect for our family. I found the church we could attend and the perfect little café we could catch up with friends on the weekend. Unfortunately for me, no jobs are to be had for us there. A girl can always dream, though!

Our spring holiday was spent touring the North Island of New Zealand. We started with a night in Auckland before heading to Whitianga for two nights. We then headed to Rotorua, but only after a stop at Hobbiton. We ended our week long trip back in Auckland. It may sound like a lot of traveling for one week, but the New Zealand scenery makes every mile/kilometer worth it! And while I do dream of living there one day, what I love more about our trip is the quality time with family. There were no work meetings to keep Tony away, no sports practices delaying arrival from school and no social activities to distract our time together. It was just us. And I love just us!

Please excuse the gazillion pictures! Ten years from now, though, I want to remember things like that little café that I loved!

Auckland

The view from our first hotel in Auckland, located in the Parnell district. At first I was aggravated that we were so far away from the city center. That was before I took in the beautiful views and toured around this lovely area. This is the place I could picture myself living.

Grabbing a bite to eat at Shakespeare's. Quite a popular place with nice live music downstairs.

Rosie's: The perfect little café down the street from our hotel.

Whitianga

The view on the drive in to Whitianga.

Just as we arrived, we were able to see the weighing in of this 149kg striped marlin.

Riding this bike was fun and quite the workout! Tootling around town had us sweating bullets!

Located just across the street from the water was Enigma. We loved the fried oysters and wood fired pizzas here.

The next day we took a tour of some of the islands off of Whitianga. This particular spot is called Cathedral Cove.

A few years ago they had to close the walkway to Cathedral Cove due to a portion of the rock falling.

Our guide said the waves can get high enough that, if you stood on the top of the cliff, you would feel the spray from the waves.

Sharks tooth: A fault line where two tectonic plates meet to form what looks to be a sharks tooth.

Looking out the top of a blowhole.

Entrance to the blowhole

After leaving the boat tour, I begged the family to stop at this shop to pick out a souvenir.

We weren't really sure where this trail was going to take us.

In the end, I found a gem of a vase with an imprint of the New Zealand fern. Best of all, the potter (Alan Rhodes) was there to sell it to me.

Tony pulled into this spot for lunch. It looked like a trailer park and I wasn't quite sure I wanted to try it out. Hot Water Brewing Company was quite the diamond in the rough! The food was delicious, the staff super friendly and they brew their own beer (which was quite tasty)!

Hobbiton

Of all the activities we had planned in New Zealand, I think this excited Ellis the most!

The tree on the left is man made. The leaves were hand painted and wired on.

Look closely and you see the Hobbit holes carved into the hillside.

"No admittance except on party business"

The famous green door...if you have seen the movies.

I am pretty sure that my family was mortified when I jumped in and participated in the Maypole dance. Brought back memories of my Dodge Elementary days!

Looking down on The Green Dragon Inn

Ellis following our guide to our next stop

Grabbing an ale and ginger beer at The Green Dragon Inn.

Rotorua

We left Hobbiton for Rotorua and headed straight to the Luge.

Obviously it was hard to take pictures and drive, but I am pretty sure Ellis just ran this girl right off the track.

The next day we went out four wheeling. A relaxing ride it was not, but the views were amazing.

We laughed when they gave us these silly outfits and boots to wear.

Here we are thankful for those silly outfits and boots. Hannah Grace was especially thankful! I got stuck in mud pits four times. She was behind me and at one point I sprayed mud all over her as I was trying to get myself out.