Journey with Christina

next part of our trip was all in the interior of the north island. There are the most fabulous landscapes of green rolling hills dotted with sheep. It is what I imagined an English country-side would look like. Our stay for night 6 was a special one. We would be staying in a river lodge set in the middle of those gorgeous rolling hills. There was no wi-fi or TV (on purpose) and a large cozy common area that forced people to interact.

Example of the rolling hills dotted with sheep.

The common area of the lodge.

We started the night with the most delicious roast beef dinner served family style on long chunky wooden tables. The food was outstanding and we all gorged ourselves while washing it down with little pitchers of beer from the tiny bar.

Our family meal.

After dinner the board games game out and everyone enjoyed getting their new “family” better. Our table ended up playing Jenga with giant wooded blocks. Quite intense, we were able to get the structure so high and unsteady that we caught the attention of everyone in the room. The bartender then gave us challenges such as climb around the table without touching the floor, get out of twisted ropes and such. Jon wanted to participate in everything and we even won a shot for being able to place a beer bottle the furthest away while Jon lowered me.

Jenga old-school.

Where we stayed night 6, River Valley, a unique adventure lodge set in the rolling hills of the interior of the North Island. There was no cell phone service but plenty of activities such as hikes, horseback riding ($150) and class 5 white water rafting ($200). We shared a large 6-bed dorm with communal bathrooms for about $50 a night each and had the amazing roast beef dinner for an additional $20 each. The bunk beds here were sturdy wood, not the flimsy metal that swayed like a sail at in a storm when the person in the bottom bunk rolled over.

Jon sleeping off his night of family fun.

After so much country time the next day we headed into the cultural capital of New Zealand, Wellington for some city time. We only had one night but it was enough for me to get my fix.

Where we stayed night 7, Base Wellington. We shared a microscopic 4-bed dorm for about $21 a night ($42 total) each which included a free dinner of chicken stir fry. It of course was too small for Jon so we headed out to the fantastic restaurant scene and split a second meal.