New Zealand, beautiful country known by many names:
Aotearoa.
Land of the Long White Cloud.
Country of Lacklustre and Disperate Internet Connectivity.

Folks, we’ve made it. Thursday morning, NZ time, Anna and I landed at Auckland airport and were greeted by remarkably blue skies and comfortable 65F/18C weather. It was good to be back. Without further ado, we made our way to the car rental and hopped into our little, but trusty, vehicle. It’s 8am – no time to waste! So off we went, south of the city, to see what we could find.

Our first plan of attack was to head for the quaint little town of Cambridge where I spent so much time in 2000. There’s a great bakery there that serves up the type of fare you can find in almost every town across the country: meat pies, savory eats, and sweet treats. We grabbed some grub and then happened upon a coffee spot. With pies and coffees in hand, and after a short sit, we were back in the car and driving towards Matamata, a place famous as being the location of Hobbiton in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.

Unfortunately, the cost and length of the Hobbiton tour didn’t really agree with our budget. Checking out Tolkien-ish holes in the ground doesn’t come cheap. So instead we walked the grounds at the entrance, took some photos and – you guessed it – got back in the car. We returned back northwards and drove through Hamilton, where we had plans to meet up with an old friend. Alas, the 12+ hour flight was beginning to catch up with us by this point, so that meeting never took place. Instead, Anna and I drove back up to Auckland after an awesome morning and afternoon of meandering through the green backroads of Waikato, and found our way to our hotel.

The next morning would be early, because we had an estimated 5 and a half hour drive northwards to the very tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. We were both exhausted and needed sleep, but we needed to grab some good food first. Once we got our stuff into our room, we headed down to Auckland’s waterfront area on Quay Street. We found ourselves in an old reclaimed shipping office converted into a pub, sipping on NZ’s finest ales. Upon draining a pint or two, our next stop was an awesome Asian/Indian restaurant called Monsoon Poon. The food was awesome. Great atmosphere… loud, fun, rustic tables and cool decor, and all done right. The curried lamb was my final nail in the coffin and after sluggishly making our way back to the hotel, I was asleep in minutes on the couch.

Next stop: Cape Reinga.