ASA Holidays was the only travel operator that included a farm stay which we had wanted to experience so the choice is obvious. The 12 days package, inclusive of one night in Sydney, international flights on Qantas, domestic flights on Jetstar and accommodation in 4 star hotels, cost almost $4K per adult including taxes. For Miley, she was 3 weeks to 2 years old then, so her fare was less then $1K including taxes. It's considered an expensive trip according to our tour guide, as most people would rather go to Europe at this price. However unlike the Europe tour package which tend to cover many places over a short span of time, our NZ trip was in fact quite relaxing and we had ample time for each location.
One of the key highlight of the itinerary was visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set where 'The Lord of the Rings' movie was filmed. My wife was an avid fan of the movie and you could image how excited she was. This was the only site where we each held on to a camera!
One of the key highlight of the itinerary was visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set where 'The Lord of the Rings' movie was filmed. My wife was an avid fan of the movie and you could image how excited she was. This was the only site where we each held on to a camera!
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| The set took 9 months to build but only appeared 8 seconds in the movie! |
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| Miley looks like she lives there. Perfect for her height! |
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| Looks like she's heading out for some action.... |
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| Working really hard, earning a living.... |
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| An inviting cozy corner in the hobbit cafe. |
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| Hobbit Soo and her 'giant' daddy. |
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| We'd head over for drinks at the Green Dragon Inn... |
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| To smoke pipes.... |
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| And sip ginger beer... |
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| Being random (maybe drunk), little Hobbit Soo sings "Three Blind Mice" with a stick in her hand on her way home... |
The next highlight of the trip was the Farm Stay where we got to experience genuine Kiwi hospitality and spent a night with a local family at the farmhouse. The tour group was split up for a day and each family was picked up by their respective farm hosts. We stayed with an old couple who owned a huge farm and had 3 rooms to spare hence we bunked in with another couple and our tour guide.
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| Miley was excited the moment she stepped into the house cos they had a cat! She kept tailing the cat throughout the house... |
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| We were served tea and home baked cookies by the hostess. |
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| They even had baby chair and cutlery cos their grand children will come by every now and then. |
After tea, the host brought us out to tour their farm while the hostess prepared for dinner. We rode on a tractor around their farm, which was quite an experience, and stopped in between to see their horses, cows and a black pet pig named Maizey.
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| First stop at the horse stables.... |
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| Then on a tractor around the farm! |
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| Definitely stepped on some cow dung.... |
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| Do we smell or does the cow? |
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| Meet Maizey, their pet pig, who eats everything from leftover dinner to banana skin... |
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| And they have a huge beautiful garden with lots of space to run around.... |
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| And beautiful violet flowers... love |
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| A lemon tree... |
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| Even a flower that matches her outfit! |
Dinner was sumptuous. Choice of beef or lamb, self-grown potatoes and carrots, home-made blueberry pie with ice-cream for dessert and lots of other dishes which I can't quite remember. Didn't take too many photos in the house cos I felt like I was intruding their privacy if I did.
My initial impression of a farm stay was staying in a wooden house with probably dim lighting and maybe not so modern toilets. I was totally wrong cos our room was like a suite with an ensuite bathroom!
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| Our room could comfortably accommodate a family of four |
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| That's the opposite view with the bathroom door in the background. Can you spot Miley? |
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| Breakfast |
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| Our host and hostess before we say goodbye... |
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| Another picture of Miley "tailing" the cat! |
More pictures of other gorgeous sites of New Zealand in my next post.... :)
