North Island Tour
By Jara Rabbe
From 15 to 23 April my friends Pauline, Marlena, Lean and I went on an Educational North Island Adventure tour with NZET.
Between seeing and experiencing amazing sights and activities I made a lot of new friends and enjoyed evenings on the beach full of laughter, smiles, and stories.
Our airplane to Auckland left early in the morning on 15 April 2024. We had our suitcases ready and went through the security checks, unsure of what to expect and what we would experience during the next eight days.
Once we landed in Auckland and met all the other 32 people it didn't take us long to figure out they were all very friendly and funny people 😊
After a couple of welcomes and games to fasten up the process of name learning, we started our adventure. Little did we know at that point that the next eight days were going to be the best holidays of our lives. We had a look around Auckland the day of our arrival to get to know the city and the atmosphere and went up the Sky Tower before we left for one of my highlights the next day. That day I got to go diving on the reefs of an uncivilised island miles away from the coast. Blue fish filled the waters in front of that island with life and I was able to dive through a whole shoal of blue fish. I was so close to those hundreds of fish, some even touched my hand. On our way back to the coast and our accommodation that night, little dolphins accompanied us. I personally never saw dolphins so close, playing around and performing a little show for us, before - that was definitely one of my highlights.
The next few days were filled with lots of bus drives. Even though it was very tiring I would definitely consider it worth the experience, because between those bus rides I got to experience things I never did before. I went sandboarding on Ninety Mile beach.
Beach and tramping at Cape Reinga, which I would consider heaven on earth. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been to.
We cooked food together and finished every evening with long and entertaining talks.
On our last day we went to the Hobbiton movie set and this tour through "the Shire" was my absolute highlight. I have been a big fan of the Lord of the Rings movies for years and never thought I would actually get the chance to see the real movie set and from the moment I booked the North Island tour a year ago, I waited patiently to finally go. To my own delight it was even better than I had hoped for it to be. I got to run through the hills of the Shire, stand in a Hobbit house and of course, I took a lot of funny photos together with Pauline.
On that last evening, we had a fire on the beach and talked about our experiences and highlights and ate lollies until our stomachs were hurting. I am still in contact with some friends I made on that tour and we exchange messages almost every day.
Overall, I can say that I am thankful I got the opportunity to do one of those tours and met so many new and amazing people. I saw so many things and got so many wonderful impressions that I will cherish for the rest of my life. From a Maori village to the top of the Auckland Sky Tower, every kind of activity I could dream of was included. Truthfully, I can say that this trip was one of the best experiences of my life and even though it is over now, the memories will stay with me for a lifetime.
