I've got all the reservations confirmed at this point, so at least we know generally where we're going and that we have a place to lay our heads each night. As usual when we travel, though, we'll get recommendations from our hosts in each location, of cool things to do and good places to eat.
So… after a weekend in Sydney, we arrive in Auckland around dinnertime on the Sunday, pick up our car, and take a short drive north to the Matakana wine country. There we'll stay two nights at RibbonWood B&B.
Here we hope to do some wine tasting, and probably take some walks through the countryside.
Next, we'll drive south, back past Auckland to Matamata, to visit Hobbiton (sorry, I just can't help myself…)
Here, we're doing a farmstay for one night, in a cottage with a view of Wairere Falls – the geography in this area looks really cool, with a forested escarpment rising up sharply from rolling farmland.
Then we drive south again, to the southern shore of Lake Taupo, where we're staying 3 nights at the Omori Lake House.
Here we hope to do a lot of hiking (tramping) on some of the trails (tracks) in the surrounding parks.
Then we head back to Auckland and then the loooong trip home.
[jumping up and down here, I'm so excited]
Where have the days gone? 
I'm so looking forward to your photos, especially of "Hobbiton." LOL!
My office-mate, Nadine of South Africa, is in Sydney at this moment attending a family Bar Mitzva (I requested of her a boomerang when she asked what she could bring back).
She's not much of a photo-shooting sort, so I get my vicarious thrills from you!
Oh good, I hope to oblige… as time permits I plan to blog during the trip. My mother-in-law has requested a koala 🙂
"My mother-in-law has requested a koala"
LOL!!! I never thought of that!!!
Oh, I'm so looking forward to seeing the Hobbiton too! We'd love to visit New Zealand. Can't wait for your photos to show up here. Have fun!
Looks fab. We really, really want to get over to New Zealand for a holiday one of these days. The closest we ever get is Norfolk Island. You are not going there on your trip, are you?
No, unfortunately we have waaay less time than we wish… I used to have a 5-foot Norfolk Island pine in my house though, which I really liked [but of course I eventually killed it]
Yes, they can be temperamental esp if you try pruning them from the top. The island actually quite expensive to get to anyway – we only go because we have family there.
yay! sandy, your itinery looks great- Im sure you will love every minute of it. I only wish I could meet up with you for a hike.. will have to be next time!!