Visiting Hobbiton

If you're going to make the hike all the way to New Zealand you HAVE to visit Hobbiton. You might recognize that word from the Lord of The Rings (LOTR) series. It's the town where the hobbits live. I've read the books and seen the movies, but I'm not the biggest LOTR fan in the world, but I have to admit it was SO COOL. Admittedly, the whole thing is a bit touristy, but that's to be expected.

A Brief Backstory:
The farm where Hobbiton is built was found by a location scout flying a helicopter over New Zealand. He was looking for a hilly place near a tree and a lake when he stumbled across the perfect farm. They then negotiated with the owners to come and build a temporary set for the movies. After the movies were filmed, they tore down the set. However, when it came time to film the hobbit, they re-negotiated with the land owners for another filming stint. This time, it was agreed to build Hobbiton using permanent materials. This way, when filming concluded, the land owners could keep Hobbiton alive as a tourist attraction. I believe the guide mentioned it is the second-most visited tourist attraction in New Zealand, so clearly this was clearly a good business move. Today, thousands of tourists come through and get to experience the magic of Hobbiton!

How the Tour Works:
We decided to take the bus option to get to Hobbiton. It was about an hour drive I think from Rotorua. We arrived at a little gift shop at a certain time, boarded the bus and off we went! They played a cool behind the scenes video of filming the movie on the way there and back, so that was neat. The bus was pretty small and cramped, but it's a bus, so what can you expect?

When we arrived, they gave us the chance to use the restroom at a little check in area. I think if you drive out here, you can check in here. Next we got back on the bus and drove on to the property. It was a pretty long drive! We then followed our guide (named Luke) on a tour through Hobbiton, ending with a drink at the Green Dragon.

After the tour, you get like 5 minutes in the gift shop ( no joke!) and then it's back on the bus and back to Rotorua.

The Highlights:
Of course, seeing the Hobbit holes was amazing! Many don't really open, but this one we were allowed to take a picture inside of. It's really just a few feet deep and is very much unfinished inside - wood beams, etc.

The Green Dragon was really neat as well. You get the choice of 4 drinks at the pub, which was so fun!

We even got to see Bilbo's house! Bag End was pretty epic. 

And of course, the whole place had props everywhere. We got to see the party tree and the May pole and much more. It was honestly a really cool feeling and I'm so glad we went!

Exploring Waitomo Caves

After our glorious hike at Rangitoto, we made our way down to Waitomo. Waitomo is a small town with not much to do besides explore these AMAZING glow worm caves. We stayed at the Waitomo Caves hotel (which may or may not be haunted?) for just one night so we could have our caving adventure before driving on to our next adventure.

There are several different packages you can choose when it comes to exploring the caves. We went for the Black Abyss package, which included swimming, zip lining, tubing, climbing waterfalls, enjoying the glow worms and even abseiling down into the cave itself. I have to say, it was pretty awesome!

We started by getting suited up in a wet suit and booties and hopping on a bus. We made our way to the entrance of the cave and got a quick lesson on how to abseil. I think entering the cave may have been my favorite part! It was pretty scary to just lower yourself down into a cave through a not-very-big hole.

Once we made it in, it was time to zip line! The zip line wasn't very long, but it was kind of a crazy experience to zip line in the pitch black with a full cave of glowing worms (they are actually larvae, but glow worms sounds way less gross). They even told us to shout as we went down so we could wake them up for even more of a show!

Along the way, we got to swim up a legit river pulling our inner tubes behind us, only to be pulled back the way we came by our guide. We got to lay on our tubes, look up at the worms and just take it in. It was pretty spectacular.

We got to crawl through tiny cave areas, there was even a slide! It all culminated in climbing up 2 waterfalls to make our way out of the cave.

Some funny parts included: Enjoying a snack that included hot tang of all things. Why hot tang? We actually had two snack breaks. The other hot beverage was hot chocolate, so that was good. Maybe hot tang is a New Zealand thing?

Another part I feel like I should mention the bathroom situation. You're down in the cave for several hours and in a wet suit even longer. Spoiler alert: there are no bathrooms down in the cave. That means, yup you guessed it! nature peeing. It was so weird. They separate the boys and the girls, then have everyone turn off their headlamp and just go in the rushing water. Weirdest experience ever. I almost didn't include this bit, but if I'm being honest, it was one of the most memorable aspects, ha!

A cool long exposure picture taken down in the caves. 

jumping into the river with our tubes from about 8 feet up!

Anyway, after we made our way out of the cave, we rode the bus back to home base for a hot shower and a meal of soup and bagels. The whole experience was an absolute blast! if you are anywhere near Waitamo, you should absolutely stop by! If my caving adventure sounded a bit too involved, there are a whole host of other ways you can explore the caves.

If you'd like help planning your next adventure, visit my website at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com! 

The Joy of Leisure Vacation

For those of you who have seen my posts, you know that I am an adventure traveler. I absolutely love it! My daydreams always revolve around where my next great adventure will take place. I have a massive trip coming up in a little over a month. A few friends and I are going to spend 2 weeks trekking across Australia and New Zealand doing everything from snorkeling to rolling down a huge hill inside an inflatable ball to spelunking to taking a helicopter up to the top of a glacier. It's going to be awesome! That said, I just enjoyed a very nice relaxing vacation where the most exciting thing we did was go to Walmart. I was thinking about what to write for today's post and almost passed right by my most recent trip to New Mexico. But I think leisure vacations definitely have a place!

We were visiting family in Albuquerque and had a very chill week. We didn't go on a single hike or visit even on museum! And you know what? It was AWESOME! We just laid around the rental house, read books, watched Christmas movies and enjoyed being with family. While this particular trip did not really satisfy my adventure itch, it sure did rejuvenate me! And the views from the car as we drove to Walmart and back were GORGEOUS!

It certainly helped that we had already explored the area the last time we came to visit New Mexico. In fact, we hiked up that very mountain!

As for this trip, I tried to stay off of my phone and instead I took on a thousand-piece puzzle (which we didn't end up being able to finish - frustrating!), read tons of books, painted and spent quality time talking to some amazing people. I think it's important to take a relaxing vacation every once in a while - or even a stay-cation! Not every vacation has to be this big, grand adventure. Sometimes staying in one resort and laying on a beach all day every day can be just what you need.

That said, I am rested up and READY for my next big adventure! If you'd like help planning your vacation - chill or daring, up to you! - I'm happy to help. Visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

My First Formula 1 Race - Austin, Texas

I recently spent a week in Austin, Texas to see the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, and I had a great time! I was not a huge F1 fan before the trip, I must admit, but my husband's family are huge fans. I decided to jump on the bandwagon and root for my Mother-in-law's favorite drive, Kimi Raikonnen! I bought a cheap t-shirt from Amazon with a pithy saying ahead of time and picked up a Ferrari cap at the venue. I was ready!

On Thursday, we got the chance to go to the Pit Walk. It. Was. COOL! We got to see pit stops up close and personal and get a good look at the cars. I believe pit walks are invite only, but we somehow got passes.

Day one started with RAIN. A lot of rain. Fortunately, we had been creeping on the weather and were prepared. We had our Frogg Toggs (highly recommend) and were braced for the rain. It was just practice so we didn't end up staying too, too late. We walked around the track, bought some souvenirs and watched the cars kick up a ton of water as they zoomed past. All in all, it was pretty cool!

Day two was qualifying! I took the opportunity to get to know the sport a little better. My husband answered all of my questions, and I really started to get in to it! Our favorites did relatively well and qualifying was fun! Today the wind was our biggest challenge. The struggle was real, and I ended up back in my rain outfit trying to ward off the cold. We were going to stick around for the Bruno Mars concert afterwards, but my poor husband was coming down with a cold so we called it an early day.

Finally, it was race day! It was awesome! I actually kind of followed the whole race and understood what was happening. And the best part? Our favorite driver won!!! Kimi for the win! It was his first win in over 100 races. It was really exciting and all in all I would recommend it!

We ended the whole fun trip with good old Brittney Spears. Her concert was included in the price of the pass (general admission), and I had to see her! My middle school dreams came true as she was everything you would expect her to be, haha.

Even if it's a sport I'm not overly familiar with, I'm happy to learn and help plan! If  you want a sport-themed getaway, I'd love to help. Visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

South Kaibab Trail - Grand Canyon

Our final hike of the trip was the incredibly beautiful South Kaibab Trail. This trail is a bit shorter than the Bright Angel trail but definitely still a challenge. We did a total of 6 miles and had a blast! 

There are a few trail markers along the way - Ooh Aah Point, Cedar Ridge and Skeleton Point. It's something like .2 miles to Ooh Aah Point, 1.5 miles to Cedar Ridge and 3 miles down to Skeleton Point. Just remember if you go down, you have to come back up!

The path is fairly closed off in the beginning, but it really opens up at the aptly-named Ooh Aah Point. It's a great turn around spot for families with children or inexperienced hikers. 

From there, the path is fairly narrow and a little scary at times! I was constantly worrying about one of us slipping off the edge. Realistically, the trail is plenty wide enough and is rarely a straight drop. Just be careful and pay attention to where you are going and it will be fine!

We took a brief break at Cedar Ridge on the way down before making our way to Skeleton Point. We actually went up to the left at the end of the trail so we could get a better view of the river and it was so nice!

Skeleton Point

After resting and enjoying the view, we hiked back up to Cedar Ridge where we used the restrooms that were available (not very pleasant, but still nice that they are there!) and then enjoyed a nice lunch. It's kind of the ultimate picnic spot! I really enjoy taking leisurely hikes and just relaxing with my husband and taking it all in.

This trail is also known for having donkeys going up and down alongside hikers. If you encounter any, be sure to step off the trail and be respectful. The donkeys are used to humans and won't cause any trouble unless provoked. 

All in all, we had an awesome time hiking this trail! It was towards the end of our trip, so we were definitely tired. However, we left plenty of time, took tons of breaks and ate lots of snacks and were just fine. As always, hike responsibly, be mindful of your abilities and the weather conditions and you'll be just fine!

If you'd like any help planning your next adventure, email me at Malena@MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com or check out my website at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

Vegas Baby!

The time had finally arrived! We were ready for our vacation - Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and back to Vegas! The flight to Vegas was pretty uneventful (just how you want flights to be!) 

We landed in Vegas pretty early in the day, so we got our rental car and got on our way. We checked into the hotel and then made our way to the strip. I really wasn't too excited for this portion of our trip, but I had never been to Vegas so I was eager to explore. The hotels in Vegas are just absolutely unreal! They are whole shopping malls! I absolutely loved the different themes. Like Paris:

And New York:

And Venice!

It was a blast to just stroll down the streets and take it all in.  It was so much fun to see all the famous sites you always see in movies! It was also exciting to see the casinos. I myself am not a big gambler, but I set aside a little bit of money to play with. Sure enough, my husband and I had fun! We even tried our hand at black jack. I wanted to try it - even if it was $15 per hand! We didn't lose toooo much money but called it quits pretty quickly. I did win it "big" on the Big Bang Theory slot machine! Of course, we pretty much just won back the money we spent, but still! We walked away with a whopping big profit of $6. Boom. All in all, Vegas was fun but way over priced. I would probably go back again, but there are definitely places I would like to visit first. 

Best Beach in North Carolina

There are many beach communities in North Carolina - Outer Banks, Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Topsail... the list goes on. I have had the opportunity to visit many of these beaches, and I've finally picked my favorite... Kure Beach! Never heard of it? Exactly.

While I absolutely LOVE the Outer Banks, it took me literally 3 hours to go 5 miles on the way to our beach house on my last visit. No thank you! Wilmington and Carolina beaches are well-known and I've found that they often become quite crowded during the summer months (winter months are a whole different story!).

Kure Beach is located on Pleasure Island (I kid you not, that's what it's called). This is an island near Wilmington and is home to Carolina Beach, Fort Fisher and, of course, Kure Beach. Now I'll add this note here - it's pronounced kurr - ee beach, not "cure." #LocalInsight

The reason I've landed on Kure Beach as my favorite beach is for several reasons. Let's start with parking. If you want FREE, UNLIMITED parking, Kure beach is for you! Just look for spots near the pier! That's the key - stay near the pier. Not only, is there parking, but you can also stop in the pier for a convenient bathroom, any forgotten items (towel, sunscreen, sunglasses) and some seriously delicious ice cream. It's the perfect spot!

The beach is nice and comparable to other good ole Carolina Beaches, but the convenience found at Kure beach really seals the deal for me. I actually lived and worked on Pleasure Island for a summer, and I tried all the beaches in town. Time and time again I found myself heading over to Kure beach for easy parking and a nice, relaxing day in the sun. If you are ever in the area, check it out! Even the hotels and beach houses are a smidge cheaper (but by no means cheap) than those in the surrounding area. It's honestly a lovely place to spend a vacation and I highly recommend it!

If you'd like some recommendations for other travel ideas, I'd love to help! Shoot me an email at
Malena@MilesIntoMemoreisTravel.com or visit my website at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.