3/15: 

Mostly a driving day with a lunch stop in Napier for some Malaysian food. We did wander Napier’s downtown a little bit: it is art deco themed! There was an earthquake and resulting fire that required most of the town to be rebuilt in 1931 (when art deco was all the rage). They have since leaned into that image. 

Back on the road, our proximity to Wellington came with traffic (expected) and a rainstorm (unexpected). 

3/16:

Our main reason for stopping over in Wellington and not just continuing on to the south island immediately was the beauty connection to the Lord of the Rings movies. A full day tour with our guide Lester brought us through parks and quarries, by rivers, and up a mountain. Along the way we saw Minas Tirith and Helm’s deep, the River Anduin, the Gardens of Isengard, Rivendell, the fringe of the Shire, and the inside WETA workshop (unfortunately no pictures allowed). 

3/17:

A travel day from north to south island was mostly spent on the 3.5 hour ferry. We occupied ourselves with cards, and explored the ship. Upon our arrival, we realized we were in the middle of nowhere. We did some grocery shopping after planning out meals for the week, and enjoyed the stars.

Black sand beach!