New Zealand in the fall

In 2018, my mother, my daughter and I spent four weeks in New Zealand. It was Spring (April) in the northern hemisphere and therefore autumn in New Zealand. My mother flew to Seattle via Iceland, and Klara and I flew from Boston to Seattle to meet her there. We spent a few days exploring Seattle and then travelled on to Auckland via Los Angeles.

We rented an RV and travelled the North Island first. The most memorable highlight was probably the movie set of the Lord of the Rings movie saga, Hobbiton. Then we took a ferry to the South Island where we explored for a couple of weeks, visiting beaches, mountains and towns along the way. We also caught up with two childhood friends of my mothers both of whom had emigrated to New Zealand many years ago. The highlight on the South Island was hands down the helicopter ride to the top of the Franz Joseph Glacier. Klara proudly declared while walking on the ice that she had eaten a piece of the glacier. Klara also really loved the hot springs we visited at Hanmer Springs, which was recommended by one of my mothers friends. As we returned to the North Island we stopped to visit Rotorua and the geothermal site as well as the traditional Maori village, before embarking on our return trip.

Klara and I flew back via San Francisco and spend 36 hours sight seeing. While my mother took the other way around the planet and flew back to Europe via Dubai.