From Hobbiton to Harbour Views: A Whirlwind Trip Down Under!

Hey Frenns! 

Yes, it has been a while since I posted on the blog but if you are subscribed to my newsletter you will know where I have been! Yes the title is true- I am back from down under. I recently returned from a 2 week vacation to New Zealand and Sydney, Australia. 

There is SO much to share. Frenn- I had so many photos and videos that halfway through the trip I no longer had space on my phone and had to delete old photos and videos in order to take more. So even my phone knows I did a LOT. 

I have prepared tons of ways for you to view this content through photos and videos but I will OF COURSE summarize and share a LOT here. 

So buckle up!

First I’ll say that planning a vacation of this magnitude wasn’t easy at all. While I usually plan our annual trips (from accommodations to activities) when I started and took in all of the information I knew I’d be out of my depth.

So I did some research and stumbled upon Emma Jones of the Tourism Revival Co. I’ve hyperlinked her Instagram and Facebook accounts. We started working together about 7 months prior to our trip. She helped me zero in on what we really wanted to do, but she also helped me put together a plan so we could execute it. She helped us find hotels, found ideal airport times and gave us restaurant suggestions based on our preferences. More than anything she gave us an itinerary for our trip. It wasn’t strict, but it helped to have some guidance on things to do. 

Australia is huge ok? It is a continent but also a country. And since there was a vast array of things we wanted to do with limited geographic perspective, I knew I needed help. 

One of our main priorities was to attend an All Blacks Game. 

We had been a fan of the All Blacks for a while and centered our trip around the game schedule. Thus we decided to start our trip in Wellington and then visit Auckland to go to Hobbiton. 

Attending the game was every single thing you would expect it to be. I am a huge sports fan, particularly college football. I have my preferences (Let’s go Razorbacks!) and I understand about 97% of the rules of football. Rugby however is different. When we arrived at the stadium there was another game going on. It gave Hubs the perfect opportunity to talk to me about what was happening and to explain some of the nuances of the game. After I had a basic understanding I knew I could follow along. To tell you the truth, the game itself was exhilarating. As if the Haka wasn’t enough there were 34K+ people attending. There were lights, cameras and action. And they were playing Australia (one of their rivals). Hearing the Haka live brought chills. 

Check out my full review of the All Blacks Game here. 

While in New Zealand we also visited Hobbiton. It is just outside of Auckland. Truth be told that was *my* part of the trip. Hubs had very little knowledge beyond what I had told him about The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I remembered The Hobbit from childhood and I am a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series. I had a giddy childlike excitement seeing this up close and personal. They do an amazing job of fully indulging you and making the tour enjoyable. We even had hot cocoa at the cottage after the tour. 

We tried to slow down in Sydney, but quickly realized that Sydney is anything but slow. It’s busy and fast paced. So much so that that part of the trip, while enjoyable, didn’t feel like vacation. We were on the “go” a lot more than we normally are on our typical vacations but there was just so much to see. We originally wanted to go to Melbourne and Brisbane but both would have required a flight and after 30 hours THE LAST THING we wanted to do was take another flight. With so much to do in Sydney there was no need.

We visited the Blue Mountains; Hyde Park and spent plenty of time in and around the Harbor. 

Just being in the Harbor is a whole “thing.” We enjoyed the food, although I’ll tell you Sydney is not necessarily a foodie town (don’t come for me, this is facts). 

Sydney has so many people from all over the world and there are tons of restaurants and LOTS of seafood. The downside was that Hubs and I couldn’t indulge in most of the seafood because of our allergies and the ONE time I had fish and chips it was quite underwhelming. 

Despite that, we had an amazing time! The trip was loaded with so many experiences I had to do multiple videos to capture it all.

In another post I’ll share tips on surviving a long haul flight. For now- enjoy this beautiful bean footage! 

Stay Peachy!