New Zealand Adventure: From Auckland to the Shire

My latest adventure finds me exploring my 5th continent as I landed in the New Zealand where I was able to have the privilege of exploring this beautiful country for the next two weeks. My plan was to see as much of this country as I could during my short time here, so I created an itinerary where I was consistently on the move, traveling from city to city on both the North and South Islands. My plane landed early in the morning, in the city of Auckland, the country’s largest city. Here, I would spend the next two days exploring the city and enjoying the local culinary scene and Auckland landmarks. My first order of business after landing in Auckland was to explore the cafes of the city and I was able to find a great local café, called The Shelf, on the city's downtown that offered unique twists on brunch staples that I adored such as their chorizo and mushroom quiche. Their coffee selection was also unique, such as their dolce Latte which combined an incredible flavor with the caffeine needed to start this adventure. As I spent more and more time in New Zealand and later Australia, I was able to learn more and more about the regions history and how this history led to the current culinary scene that can be found here. From what I was able to see, there are three primary influences for food within New Zealand; European influence that arises from the regions early colonial development from countries such as England, the local indigenous cooking techniques, and a heavy influence of Southeast and Eastern Asian countries that was the result of the heavy immigration into the region during its growth and modernization.

Throughout my travels, I dined in many cafes throughout New Zealand that reminded me heavily of the Italian and French cafes that I enjoyed during my travels through Europe. Many of the breakfast and brunch option I enjoyed were heavily reminiscent of the English breakfast option that were given a local touch with the inclusion of local vegetables. A final influence for the food found within New Zealand was from the large local agricultural scene. This was evident by the expansive farms and pastures I saw on the roadsides of the country that raised sheep, cows, and deer. In fact, I had learned that there were more sheep within New Zealand that people. I took advantage of this locally sourced farming environment during my first dinner in Auckland, where I enjoyed a meal at Auckland's first steakhouse, Tony's; where I tried Tony's Pacific Steak, a filet stuffed with crab, topped with local shrimp, and Tony's bearnaise sauce on top. A great dinner at one of the city's most popular restaurants. After fueling up with some amazing food, it was time to begin exploring the many sites of the city.

The first landmark that I decided to explore was the city’s iconic Auckland Sky Tower to take in an aerial view of the gorgeous city. This vantage point provides among the best viewpoints to enjoy both the city and surrounding harbor from the tallest building in the city. After getting my bearing of the city, I descended back down to street level and spent the remainder of the day wandering through the streets of Auckland to take in the culture, architecture, and cuisine of the area. There's a great blending of culture within the city with a mixture of European and modern architecture that I was able to see along with a heavy influence of East Asian culture which can easily be seen in many of the restaurants I walked past reminding me of those I saw throughout Tokyo. The city's location on the bay adds to the ambiance of the city. I spent the day seeing some of the city's beautiful churches, their iconic sky dome, strolling viaduct harbor, and enjoying their fish market and other culinary treats.

The following morning it was time for me to say goodbye to Auckland when I boarded a tour bus en route to my first major destination and bucket list item, Waitomo Caverns. Here, I was able to take a tour through one of the world's top glowworm caves. The tour started off with a short walk through several caverns of the cave before we boarded a boat and took a ride along the river that flows through these caverns, where the journey was lit up exclusively by the 50,000 glowworms that call these caverns their home. It was a surreal experience to see a blanket of lights only a few feet above our heads coupled with the lights being reflected off the surface of the water to the point where the entire cavern was lit up. The cultural importance of the sight to the local indigenous population limited the photographic opportunities within the cave but this will easily remain a memory I'll carry indefinitely and a worthwhile item on any bucket list.

Following my tour through the glowworm caves, I took a trip to nearby Te Pua; a protected area that is filled with geysers and other geothermal features; including the country's largest geyser. The nearest town to this geothermal park is Rotorua which is often used by tourists as a jumping off point to explore not only Te Pua, but the other geothermal feature parks that are found in this region of the country. I spent my first evening in Rotorua learning about the indigenous culture of New Zealand, the Māori. I was able to go to site near the city where some local Māori began the evening by showing and teaching about their art, architecture, customs, and ceremonies. They then taught us the traditional ways in which they prepared their food such as buried pit cooking. Everyone was then treated to an amazing dinner and a show where we served everything from pit roasted potatoes, pumpkin, taro, and yams to lamb, chicken, and pork; all while enjoying our hosts singing their traditional songs. This type of dining experience is known as a Hangi and is a must do experience for foodies exploring New Zealand as it provides a great opportunity for exploring the culinary traditions of the indigenous population of the region. I would spend the next two evenings in the city of Rotorua.

My second morning in Rotorua, I woke up to take a detour to The Shire of Middle, located two hours outside of Rotorua. Originally used during the filming of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, this movie set was remade and turned into a permanent exhibit during the filming of the Hobbit trilogy. Being able to walk through this meticulously maintained set creates an experience that really transports you into the movies. I was able to see many of the iconic scenes from the movie including the home of Bilbo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, the party tree, and was even able to walk through a hobbit home. This is a must-do experience for any fan of the film and a personal joy to experience my favorite movie trilogy growing up in such an awe-inspiring way. I was even able to enjoy some apple cider at the Green Dragon Inn at Hobbiton. I simply couldn't resist having a drink at this iconic Lord of the Rings location that also happens to be the most visited bar in the country of New Zealand.

I woke up early the next morning to bid a farewell to Rotorua, as I made my South to the capital of New Zealand, passing several quaint towns along the way, as well as several prominent landmarks. The absolute highlight of this drive was being able to see Mount Ngauruhoe as we skirted along the border of Tongariro National Park. This park was used as Mordor during the Lord of the Rings filming with the symmetrical cone volcano Mount Ngauruhoe filling in as the iconic Mt. Doom. Another highlight of this trip south was being able to see New Zealand’s largest lake, Taupo. The towns that I was able to stop at along the route were Taihappe, Taupo, and Palmerstone. Each offered a peaceful place to take a short walk stretch my legs and enjoy coffee and snack at one of the many local cafes within each city. The long bus ride showcased the amazing and diverse landscapes of New Zealand’s Northern Island. I love exploring cafes in the country I visit and trying out the food from that region. While in the town of Taupo in New Zealand, I wandered into a local cafe where I tried out a dandelion Latte along with a pumpkin quiche. The quiche provided a terrific example of the blend in European culinary items mixed with local vegetables to provide a uniquely New Zealand treats.

I would spend the following three nights in Wellington; the capital of New Zealand and it’s second largest city. From here, the Lord of the Rings highlights portion of my tour would kick into high gear. The original trilogy has remained by favorite movie series since my childhood so the opportunity to explore this piece of movie history was a major influence on my decision to visit New Zealand. The area outside of Wellington is home to many prominent film locations from these movies and I was able to visit several of the film locations used for the original trilogy around Wellington. The first site I visited was Rivendell in Kaitoke Regional Park. Most of the scenes from the original trilogy that took place in Rivendell were filmed in this park such as Elronds house. While most of the film set was taken down, the gate the fellowship passes through as they excited the city, was kept up in the park. The second place I drove by was the Dry Creek Quarry. This remains an active quarry within Wellington that was used as the location where the Battle of Helms Deep was filmed and the location that the set for the White City of Minas Tirith was built. The final location for this day was Mountain Victoria Summit, in a location named Hobbits Hideaway. This was the location of the iconic scene in Fellowship of the Ring where the 4 Hobbits hid from Nazghul when they first left the Shire.

Later in the afternoon, my New Zealand Lord of the Rings adventure in Wellington brought me to Weta Caves studio. This studio creates the props and costumes that have been used in countless prominent movies, including Lord of the Rings. The studio gained initial prominence with a pair of TV shows I grew up with: Hercules and Xena before partnering with Peter Jackson on some of his earliest movies before going on to work with him on both the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and follow up Hobbit trilogy. The studio has also worked on countless other projects such as Avatar, Marvel, Dune, and District 9. The studio has earned 5 academy awards for costumes and visual effects; one of which I was able to see on the tour. Other incredible movie artifacts I was able to see on the tour were the costumes and weapons used on screen within the Lord of the Rings trilogy ranging from Sauron’s full armor to the shards of Narsil. I was 100% geeking out during this tour after being able to see these artifacts of movie history as well as learning how they were made.

After a full day of immersing myself in the sights and sounds of Middle Earth, it was time refuel in Wellington and explore more of the culinary treats of New Zealand. I wanted to be sure to try something locally owned and unique to the region, so I was able to find hidden restaurant, known as WBC. The restaurant was on the second floor of a building and can be accessed through an easily missed door that was squeezed in between two other businesses. The full name of the restaurant was the Wellington Boot Company since the restaurant was converted from a shoe company and has since gone on to be a local favorite for high quality locally sourced cuisine and drinks. I started off the meal with their smoked fish croquettes before enjoying their slow cooked wagyu beef that was sourced locally from a herd of Japanese wagyu cows that were brought over for breeding. I ended the meal with a local dessert called Oliebollen, which was fried doughnuts with caramel sauce and powdered sugar that reminded me of beignets from New Orleans.

I continued my exploration of local food the following morning, when I started my day with a great breakfast at a local cafe, where I enjoyed a locally sourced breakfast of Bacon, spicy chorizo, halloumi, mushroom, grilled tomato, avocado, wilted spinach, eggs. One of the standout aspects of the food I've enjoyed in New Zealand was how fresh their ingredients always are, especially any beef or lamb products; due to the large agriculture industry of the country that continues to use traditional open grazing strategies with their livestock. This cafe also had a unique variety of flavors with their coffee such as the red velvet Latte I enjoyed with my breakfast there.

I was able to spend my final morning in New Zealand's Northern Island by exploring the city of Wellington before my afternoon flight. The city combines a great foodie scene with heavy English influences mixed with local indigenous cooking, nearby Asian countries, and locally sourced agriculture. There is also a large variety of architectural styles in the city ranging from European inspired facades, modern style, and a sprinkling of art deco. Some of my favorite highlights from the city are: taking the Wellington Cable Car to the top of the city and then taking the downhill path back down through the gardens, modern art, and historical cemeteries of the city, walking through Cuba street; a street filled with small cafes and fun shops, and walking along Queens Wharf, a section built on the docks that offer great views of the city and bay while also being filled with a collection of great restaurants.

Following this, it was time to say farewell to the Northern Island and continue my adventure to New Zealand’s Southern Island where I would continue to spend several more days seeing more film locations from the Lord of the Rings as well as the natural beauty and National Parks of the region. But that is a story for another day…