03/10/2026
I'll be honest with you. I used to think a week in New Zealand was plenty. I'd done the South Island, seen Queenstown, stood at Milford Sound. I thought I understood this country.
Then I went back for the North Island. And I was wrong.
Two days in, I found myself standing inside a Hobbit hole at in Hobbiton, genuinely emotional. I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and to actually stand in the Shire where they filmed these iconic scenes I remember watching as a kid, surrounded by the most extraordinary plant life and rolling green hills, was something I had been dreaming about for years. The details stopped me cold. Tiny toothbrushes. Hand-crafted props. Every hole felt genuinely lived in. Photos don't fully capture it. You have to be there.
But the day before Hobbiton is what I'm still thinking about the most.
Dion Muir, a former All Black, runs a cookout experience from his home in the North Matakana area. He took our group out to the land where his ancestors lived, indigenous fishermen who had worked and ceremonied on that coastline for generations. He walked us through their history, their struggles, their deep connection to that place. Then he brought us back to his home, where fresh-caught fish and lobster were waiting.
We cooked a traditional hangi together, burying food with hot coals in the earth, the way it's been done for centuries. We sat with Dion, his family, and people from the village and shared stories over a meal we had made together.
It was 100% the best experience I had in New Zealand. I mean that completely.
That combination, Hobbiton one day, a former All Black teaching you to cook on sacred ancestral land the next, that's the North Island. Two worlds that somehow exist just hours apart, and both of them will reach right into your chest.
Here's the practical piece I want you to have. Shoulder season flights on Air New Zealand's direct route can run around $1,200 to $1,300 in economy. Pair that with a rental RV, free and low-cost campgrounds across both islands, and a loose three-week itinerary, and this trip is more doable than most people think. I won't recommend less than two weeks anymore. Three is better. There's too much soul here to rush.
The North Island changed how I understand this country entirely. And it changed how I'll talk about it from here on out.
Has New Zealand been on your list? Drop a comment. I want to share what I learned. 🌿🧙♂️🐟
