In February of 2025, Jason and I took a trip of a lifetime to the North Island of New Zealand. The ten-day trip included Hobbiton, where we toured the movie sets for Lord of the Rings; Hairy Feet Farm, where The Hobbit was filmed; Auckland, the beautiful capital city; Piha Beach; The Taranaki Volcano; and we hiked the 20km active volcanos of Tongariro Pass.
Auckland Harbor at sunrise.
Hobbiton. The food was amazing!
Piha Beach, a black sand beach on the northwest coast of New Zealand’s north island.
Jason and me on the Tongariro hike. This was an incredibly challenging, nine-hour hike through active calderas. We trained for it for months and packed multiple changes of clothes, since the weather changed dramatically from the base of the mountain to the peak. These are the mountains used in the Lord of the Rings for Mordor, so Jason and I literally walked into Morder.
At one point at the top of the first peak, the trail narrowed to a spine of rock no more than a meter wide, with sheer drops on either side.
We visited the Hairy Feet Farm in central New Zealand, a family farm that served as the filming location for most of The Shire in The Hobbit.