Day 15: Wellington
Best. Day. Ever. It started with a mail from my parents saying that I can choose a birthday present when I’m on the Lord of the Rings Movie Tour. Heeeello beautiful limited Thorin 1/6 scale figure J Great tour, great locations, great souvenir. Grinning like mad. And grinning like mad again when writing this down 🙂
Day 16: Marlborough region
Early trip to the ferry – haven’t been on one since I was a child, and man, that thing was HUGE. The passage was nice despite the rain – there was always something amazing to see, even if it was “just” water. Stop at Havelock, drove on to the Pelorus River. Lovely forest walk to another Hobbit movie location. Night stop at Nelson.
Day 17: Nelson
Started the day with a visit at Jens Hansen the Ringmaker. The salesperson was so lovely, she immediately showed me the big replica they used for the movies and took photos of me without even knowing if I would leave a single dollar in the shop … Well, I did *cough*
Spent most time of the afternoon on the road on my way to Westport.
Day 18: Westport to Hokitika
First stop at the Pancake Rocks. Amazing sight! And if you think I didn’t eat pancakes at the café after the walk, you’re mistaken. I would’ve done so simply for the pun, but they were delicious as well 😉
I also stopped at Shantytown. The replicas of the buildings were quite nice, although I preferred the more quiet walks. I even managed to see a kiwi!
Evening in Hokitika. Went on the most gorgeous beach walk ever – the clouded sky looked so amazing! It’s obvious why New Zealand is called the land of the long white cloud, I already have so many beautiful pictures of clouded skies.
Day 19: Franz-Josef and Fox Glacier
Seeing snow-covered mountains so close to lush green plants is really a sight, and helicopters on their way to the glaciers made quite an impression on me as well. Took the glacier view road – gravel road, narrow, and almost like driving through a green jungle tunnel. Did I mention that it was raining as well? The sight was amazing, but I’m still glad that no other car came my way!
Another gorgeous view point was Knight’s point – cliffs, wind, and then only the sea.
Night at Haast Town. Not as big as it sounds, the evening walk was rather short.
Day 20: Mt Aspiring National Park
Wonderful scenic route through Mt Aspiring National Park. Stopped at the Roaring Billy Falls, Thunder Creek Fall, and the Blue Pools. One sight more gorgeous than the next, and so many beautiful postcard pictures!
Lunch break (and ice cream break!) at Wanaka, sitting at the lake and simply enjoying myself before driving on to Queenstown.
Day 21: Queenstown
Went right to the i-site on the morning and booked some trips for the next days. And the first today is my (next) Lord of the Rings tour, this time to Twelve Mile Delta, Glenorchy, and Paradise. “You look like you would like to be a hobbit …” YES of course! Pretty much sums up my experience 🙂
Have to get up early next morning … to get to Milford Sound!
And that was #3 of my New Zealand throwback – three more to go! 🙂
Aquilea of the Lonely Mountain 
Sighing deeply in admiration of all this beauty.
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Me too, me too XD Thanks for commenting ^^
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Jealous, jealous, jealous. Or maybe I should say I so wish I could go back to NZ. Almost all of the places you mentioned, ring a bell for me.
It looks as if you saw a lot and made the most of your time there. Fantastic. Enjoyed seeing the pictures, too!
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I talked to a friend who also was in New Zealand a few days ago, and he said about the same thing … I mean, even I look at the pictures and already think that I want to go there again … It’s just so beautiful in New Zealand!
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It’s two years since I was there… really time to go again 😉
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