I am back from a fantastic trip to New Zealand and Australia! New Zealand is the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited AND the friendliest! This is Cathedral Cove, a natural formation at the beach on the Coromandel Peninsula.

I flew to New Zealand using 62,500 American miles and $25 flying Qantas Airlines business class. We also used 260,000 IHG points to stay four nights in Crown Plaza Hotels and three nights at the Sydney Intercontinental, including New Year’s Eve! The return trip from Australia was also 62,500 AA miles and $106 on Hawaiian Air business class with a stop in Honolulu. Note, both were booked almost a year in advance and booked as two one ways. Here are the numbers:

AA partner flights, business 125,000 AA miles     $131 cost   (Value – $20,067)    AA Citi card

4 nights, Crown Plaza         110,000 IHG points          0         (Value – $686)          IHG cr card

3 nights, Intercontinental      150,000 IHG points          0         (Value – $1,638)      IHG cr card

16 hotel nights                                                        $823

21 days rental car, full insurance                             $365

4 One way flights in NZ/AU                                  $867

These prices reflect my portion, except for the IHG points which were split three ways. I went with two lady friends, one of whom lived in NZ!

(And how can a miles traveling teacher take off three weeks for a trip in the middle of the school year anyway? The answer is: personal days, a great substitute, LOTS of planning ahead, and of course, a sweet and understanding husband/family!)

I flew from my home airport and our adventure on Qantas Airlines began in LA. The business class seats lie fully flat, so it’s very easy to sleep, especially after changing into your PJs!

 

Our amenity kit was a Kate Spade…!

 

The plane was an Airbus A380-800, we were on the upper deck, so I went for a walk downstairs.

 

After a fourteen hour somewhat restful flight, we arrived in Sydney and had a layover there, which we spent in the Qantas lounge.

All that food is very different from the food selection in our US airline lounges!

 

And we are off to Auckland, on the North Island of New Zealand.

A view of the Tasmin Sea and the harbor…

And all that beautiful greenery of New Zealand…

The Crowne Plaza, Auckland, was right in the heart of the city, and all decorated for the holidays!

 

Here are some views of our room…sorry for the baggage!

 

Since we had no working internet in our room, the hotel gave us complimentary breakfast!

 

Our first full day, we drove to the Coromandel Peninsula and stopped along the way at this scenic little town. I love these pine trees – they don’t even look real!

 

Hiking to Cathedral Cove, these ferns are everywhere and a spectacular species!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m here at last – a life-long dream to visit New Zealand!

 

 

 

Where our hike began…you can see the “cathedral” to the left of the tree.

You can see it a bit better in this picture…

We headed to “Hot Water Beach” where you go at low tide (you can look up times online) to dig in the sand for the hot mineral water bubbling just below the surface.

In some places, the water was VERY HOT, hot enough to burn your feet!

 

Don’t just start digging existing holes, but go where all the people are and start a community dig – it’s more fun and you get to know others! The man digging on the right was a “Kiwi,” or native New Zealander!

 

Enjoying the fruit of their labor!

After a loong day, our sunset view from the room…

The next day, we went to Sky Tower, the tallest man made structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 1,076 feet; it’s an observation and telecommunications tower.

 

You could pay to do the “Sky Jump” via guided cable 630 feet off the building for an exciting 11 seconds, but we elected not to to that! The cable you see is where they jump, but it’s so fast it’s very hard to get pictures!

Looking straight down…

This is the trampoline platform where the jumpers land!

Even though the weather wasn’t the best, we still enjoyed Auckland. Next up, a sheep show and the New Zealand culture…