North Island, New Zealand — THE CUCKOO PROJECT

Did New Zealand just make our top 5 countries list!? YES! And it happened real quick.

After our awesome Australia trip, we partnered again with Apollo Motorhomes for our road trip through New Zealand. Once we picked up our new home for the next 2.5 weeks, we wasted no time hitting the road!

We were immediately surrounded by snow capped mountains and thousands of sheep across green rolling hills.

Our first night in New Zealand we waited for the sun to go down, then went on a night walk through McLaren Park to the falls. We were in search of our first ever glow worm sighting and were so excited when we finally stumbled upon them.

Around every turn in NZ there's an activity. Skydiving, hiking, bungee jumping, ice climbing, white water rafting, jet boating, kayaking, skiing, biking, you name it, New Zealand has it! It's a country filled with outdoor adventurists and thrill seekers - Danny was in his element.

We started with white water rafting through Rotorua Rafting company. The river leads to Tutea Waterfall, at 21ft it’s the highest rafted waterfall in the world. As it was Hailey's first time, Danny thought this would be perfect intro. And he was right, we had a blast!

Through each rapid, waterfall, paddle stroke and mouthful of water, we couldn't have had more fun. It was an adrenaline rush and the best welcome to New Zealand.

The experience was awesome and made even better with the funny, laid back, knowledgeable, and daring staff. They did a great job of putting you at ease while instilling the right amount of fear and excitement.

To unwind from the high of rafting, we visited the redwoods. Yup, we left Northern California and traveled all the way to New Zealand to see the redwoods. Although the redwoods certainly didn't compare to Muir woods, the suspension bridge walkways they built at the park, were pretty cool!

We made quick work of North New Zealand, but couldn’t leave without doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Unfortunately, the thru hike was closed, but we were able to hike to Red Crater and back. We got an early start and basically had the trail to ourselves.