New Zealand Vacation Trip Report

Marakopa Falls

During the winter of 2010-2011 we were trying to figure out somewhere to go on vacation.  We wanted to go some place different and outside of the US.  Tyler had never been out of the country before and we really wanted to take him somewhere far away from Iowa.  We spent a bunch of time looking at various places around the world.  After much research and deliberation, we decided we wanted to go to New Zealand.  Erin and I have wanted to go to New Zealand for a while, but had never really considered it seriously.  We mentioned that we were thinking of going to my parents and they asked if they could come with us.  We booked airline tickets on Jan 27th for a March 12th departure.  That gave just over 6 weeks to plan our activities, book hotel reservations and learn as much about New Zealand as we could.

Some of the items we brought with us:
Interesting Facts:
Notes:
$1US = ~$1.3NZ (New Zealand dollar) at the time of our visit. Easiest way to do the math: take roughly 20% off the NZ price.

Day 0 - Marshall, WI  to Auckland, New Zealand

Day 1 - Auckland to Waitomo Caves

Day 2 - Waitomo Caves and Marokopa Falls

Day 3 - Tongariro Crossing

Day 4 - Wellington

Day 5 - North Island to South Island

Day 6 - Abel Tasman Sailing

Day 7 - Motueka to Kaikoura

Day 8 - Kaikoura Whale Watching

Day 9 - Kaikoura to Franz Josef Glacier

Day 10 - Franz Josef Glacier Hike

Day 11 - Milford Sound

Day 12 - Te Anau

Day 13 - Te Anau, New Zealand to Marshall, WI


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