Trippin' // An Unexpected Journey

So, as promised, today I'll be sharing a few snaps from my 6 day trip to New Zealand. I went with a few friends to celebrate us graduating high school! I was both nervous and excited as it was the first time I was travelling without my parents! I had to be super organised which was nerve-wracking, I was paranoid the whole time haha (what with my terrible habit of leaving things behind). Luckily my friend's elder sister 'chaperoned' us, so it was good to have somewhat of a guardian, haha! We stayed in two places in New Zealand's North Island; Auckland and Rotorua. I actually have hardly any photos of Auckland, it's just your typical city situation. Very similar to Brisbane actually! We went up the Skytower which is one of the main attractions, and it was pretty cool to get a view of the city by night. You can see a few more pics from the trip over on my Instagram!

One of the attractions we visited in Rotorua was the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland. Rotorua is known for its thermal springs, boiling mud pools, etc, so visiting a place like this was a must! It was super interesting to learn about the different coloured pools, and thermal springs. The different colours were amazing to see, and all down to the chemicals, for example the bright green is due to the sulphur content.

So steameh

Lady Knox Geyser

Boiling Mud Pools ft. Manuka tree

Of course, pretty much the whole reason we even wanted to go to New Zealand, was because of Hobbiton. We're geeky and proud. Needless to say, we were pretty freakin excited when we finally got there! It's so exciting to know that scenes from the films were actually filmed there, and the actors were actually there at one point. It was totally worth the rather expensive entry/tour/bus price just being able to see the lil' hobbit holes and gallabant around Hobbiton. It was so exciting remembering the scenes from the movie, then seeing the locations, etc in real life! It was also really interesting to learn a bit more about the set itself, and little tidbits that I didn't already know. Gah, it was just amazing. It felt real guys. I wanna live there. Well, technically, it is real because they're all permanent structures. I'll just let the photos do the talking shall I...

"I'm going on an adventure!"

Bag End

Samwise Gamgee's hobbit hole!

Sheepies in a line!

The Green Dragon where I had a ginger beer, mmm.

The last place we went to in Rotorua were the Redwoods. It was a bit rainy that day so not the best conditions, but it was still really beautiful. We went on an hour long walk, though it took longer since we stopped to take photos so often haha! I just have a couple of snaps to share. It was really peaceful having a stroll through the gorgeous natural scenery!

Crystal clear water

So that's just a taste of what I got up to in New Zealand! I hope you guys somewhat enjoyed have a flick through my photos. New Zealand is such a gorgeous country, and so green. It's definitely somewhere I want to return and have a proper trip right around the country. There's just so much to see, and only a hop over the ditch ;)