29.12-1.1. Auckland

Today is halfway, our 31st day of travel. We're heading from Saletoga Sands Hotel to the airport. Another hour's drive on bad roads.

The flight with Air New Zealand is quite turbulent, but the service is great. Upon arrival in Auckland, we go to the hotel. Quickly grabbed something to eat and off to bed. Tomorrow we'll be up early.

The alarm clock rings at 5:30 am. The excursion to the Hobbiton Movieset starts at 6:30 am. The Shire from Lord of the Rings. During the 2-hour drive, you can see one farm after another. Mostly dairy cows. Everything is well organized on site. Every 10 minutes, a bus tour starts. In the Shire, you then walk through the filming location. Amazing how much attention to detail has been paid here. And all that for a few minutes in the film. After 2 hours, there is a free beer in the inn and then it's back to Auckland in glorious weather. After a short city tour, we stay in the city at the harbor and let the day end in the sun.

The next morning, I finally manage to go running again. Wonderful, not tropical temperatures for a change. It's 17 degrees, later it will be 24. We go to the Viaduct, where there is supposed to be a lot going on in the evening for New Year's Eve. Everything looks very nice and we stay there all afternoon.

In the evening, we head to the Skytower to get a good view of the fireworks. Unfortunately, we have to leave for the airport at 5:30 am. So after the fireworks, we go back to the hotel. Well, we can celebrate again tomorrow.😊