Middle Earth. Selandia Baru. Aotearoa. New Zealand.

It's the country that everyone dreams of going to, but never actually sees it as a possibility.  It's the land that loaned it's mountains to the creation of one of the greatest movie trilogies.  It's the nation that's first to greet each day.  It's further down under than the normal down under.

New Zealand.  The Maori name, Aotearoa, means Land of the Long White Cloud.  Because of the weather patterns and the mountains covering the islands, there is often a long white cloud that seems to stretch over the entire land mass... even though not necessarily over the ocean as well.

I had the opportunity to travel to this beautiful country for three weeks with a few other teachers from SPH.  Planning this trip was in the works a year before the trip, though we were still making plans a day before we left.  It was the trip of a lifetime.  I hope that these photos give a little glimpse into our adventures camping across one of the most beautiful countries I've visited.

North Island: Part One

Brisbine Airport was pretty empty, which made for a nice spot for a nap!

After watching the video on youtube, it was sweet to travel Air New Zealand

We stayed in Auckland for the first couple days while we got the car, shopped for camping supplies, and got used to life in the western world again.  We stayed with Heather's parents and were able to meet up with the other group from SPH for a BBQ.

Our first stop was Coromandel.  After a few hours trek along the ocean, and some stops in quaint beach towns, we arrived at a scenic horse farm, Kim's first choice for adventures in New Zealand.  It was a fun and relaxing way to start the trip.

During last year's trip to Australia, camping my favorite thing.  So when we planned this trip, camping was a top priority.  We bought food to keep in a cooler in the car and cooked every night.  It was fun to be creative with different camp meals, have picnics outside our cozy tent, and enjoy a glass of wine, which is much cheaper in NZ than Indonesia.

We made our way across the peninsula towards Cathedral Cove, where one of the opening scenes of Narnia, Prince Caspian was filmed.  It was so picturesque.  

I like my selfies...

We drove south toward Mt. Manganui, where Phil and Raema are from.  Here we met up with the other girls for a while to go to Christmas Eve service.  On Christmas we took a hike up and around the mountain, played frisbee on the beach, and enjoyed a little cafe... the only place that was open on the holiday.  In NZ, everything shuts down for Christmas, which means that everyone has to spend quality time with their friends and family at the beach.