Hey, Wanna go to New Zealand?

Mr Harrigan has traveled to New Zealand a few times now. Each time he returns, he tells me how great it is. I nod and smile, but New Zealand has never been on my radar as a holiday destination, so I just always left it at the nodding and smiling. I work full time, study full time caseload and we have three kids, so the prospect of planning a trip to the supermarket is at times overwhelming, let alone planning a trip sans children. Yes, we are those kind of horrid parents who, on occasion, holiday without our children, and we absolutely love it.  #sorrynotsorry

So, after reviewing our schedules, there was an opportunity for Mr Harrigan and I to travel to New Zealand for a week. This was only possible due to the help of our respective parents and our awesome kids. Despite having thanked them many times, it does not seem like enough, so thank you again guys.

The problem with the timing of the trip was that I had three university exams in the two day before we were to fly out, and so I had advised Mr Harrigan if this was to all go ahead, I needed him to do all of the leg work and plan the relevant aspects of our trip. He agreed to this and so tickets were booked, as was car hire. I have glossed over some issues with Escape Travel during this process, which were more of a irritation than a problem, but I think it important to note they were not very awesome from a customer service perspective.

The day before we flew out, I brought to Mr Harrgan’s attention the fact that I could not find Hobbiton tickets for sale, but true to his word, he sorted this out and secured tickets before our departure. This is an important thing to note, Hobbiton is fantastic, but also very popular. While I am supportive of the concept of a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ travel style, do not take the chance that you can just lob up and go to Hobbiton. You will be sad if you miss out, so if you do not book another single thing when you are heading to NZ, get Hobbiton sorted in advance. I had only been searching on the actual Hobbiton website, but Mr Harrigan expanded his search and secured tickets through Viator. Just check what you are booking and as always, compare prices between sites and providers.

Hr Harrigan decided it was important to secure accommodation for our first night before we flew out, so that we a) had address details to provide to immigration if needed (we have seen Border Security too many times and know the sketchy people never have an address they are going to….) and b) so that we did not have to spend valuable time on the ground trying to find accommodation and have to stress out about it after arriving in Auckland. Other than our first night, there was no accommodation booked, deviating from our characteristic planned, tabulated and colour coded travel plans that we have previously employed with great success. I am a planner, and the thought of just taking it as it comes scared the bejesus out of me. But I was also ready for an adventure, whatever may come our way.

http://thearticlewebsite.co.uk/one-year-in-new-zealand/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keep-Calm-Love-New-Zealand/dp/B00HWXMSOE