Middle Earth: The Land of Hobbitses (pt 2)

Hello Pengminions!!! We bring you segment 2 of our New Zealand adventure! Here we have captured the last part of our stay in the north island and make our way to the south island via the aforementioned “ferry ride of death”

We start again as the penguin couple makes their way downstream on the
Tongariro River!

Smiling with our group and Australian guide

Oogling the breathtaking views
Touching a lil waterfall
Hitting close to home! HAHA
Successfully navigated the narrow seas (standing up and all) without loosing a passenger! 
Made our way to Taupo! 
We heard screams and looked up from our peaceful view to find…
Skydivers!!!!
Sunset at the great lake!

The Day we met Mt. Doom!
Yes, we hiked the whole way! and then some….
see above: Mt Doom! (you know Lord of the Rings???) aka Mt Nguauruhoe
There was ice and frost when we started at 7am!
and FOG!
what natural colored mosses(?)
as we ascend THE MTN…clouds…
I AM ABOVE THE CLOUDS!!! (and only half way up)
at one point we see a lake
once we reach the summit….TWO, THREE, FOUR?!?!!?!
IT IS THE CRATER ATOP MT DOOM!!!
WE MADE IT!!!! Successful PENGUINS
Our gorgeous view from the top above the clouds
With a great sense of accomplishment we made our way back down the Mountain 
The shoes that helped me make it
and we make our way on to the rest of the crossing…about 10 more km to go!
up more mountainous terrain
the red crater
We had a great view of the blue and green lakes that are located near volcano steam vents
View from the “trail” on the down side of the red crater
dun dun dunnnnnnnn! ahhhhh 😀
the very white steam is from a real live active volcano!!! eeeps


a panoramic picture from the red crater

Sadly after the volcano we were tired and the road was as windy as the road in the clouds from DragonBallZ AND about 7 km to the end so we just forgot from lack of energy to picture anything more. We ended up in a rain forest for the last 5 km or so. The climate changes because of elevation, clouds, and terrain were surreal.
Our SUCCESS FACES! We made it. 8pm WHEW

Next day, in pain, we went off to check out HUKA FALLS!
The water was wicked fast and pristine blue.

We also checked out the Huka Honey Hive where we saw beez and tasted ALL THE HONEY! (and bought some wine 🙂
It was a lovely attraction as we made our way down to Wellington; our last stop in the north.
A hillside view of houses
Random art
The best slide ever!!! I was discouraged to use on our rainy day walking the town…I did it anyway!!! (and was soo right in its awesomeness) 
free face art so we made our own with it lol
(I discovered howmuch I love panoramic pictures while in NZ)
The Museum of Te Papa (on every list of must sees)
preserved giant squid!

We also went to the Weta Workshop: Our minds Exploded inside their work space but sadly picture taking was restricted 😦 
The dreaded ferry
(I did not know this when the picture was taken! The ship though didn’t have balancing ballasts and we were on some pretty choppy seas….the end of my life as I knew it)

Now we have made it to…The South Island!
Our first day was hiking Abel Tasman
Just beautiful the whole trek
Cricks (lil creeks) and baby waterfalls everywhere
The ever wonderful silver fern!
This is the trunk of a silver fern cut close to the base
What marvelous wood grain!!!
Our stay for the evening was at a quaint hostel
Our room:
It had a name: The Love Bug
These are chocolate/mint love bugs!!!

We have just brushed the surface of all things South Island of New Zealand~y!!!!
Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
More to come just keep a look out friends!!

Peace, Love, and Happiness Everyone!