We took a 12-day trip in September across the north and south islands of New Zealand. We started from Auckland and drove further into the north island to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and pay our respect to Mount Doom along the way. From there we returned through the thermal wonderlands and The Shire and Hobbiton before exploring downtown Auckland in more depth. We then flew down to Queenstown on the south island and drove to the Aoraki / Mount Cook area where we were awestruck by mirrored glacial lakes and brilliant hiking through the Hooker Valley. We made our way across Arthur’s Pass to the south island’s west coast and north to Abel Tasman before returning through Christchurch back to the wineries, bungee platforms, and riot that is Queenstown. We were unfortunately unable to get to Milford Sound due to some winter activity, as we visited in early spring; however, New Zealand is one of those magical places with almost unparalleled beauty to which we will certainly return!