BEST family vacation ever to ring in 2023! We 5 flew 20 hours to embark on a 2-week cruise around Australia & New Zealand… HOBBITON was everyone’s favorite!
Kenny, Daron, and I flew from Houston and met Kas & Stevie in LA. Explored Sydney a few days before hopping on the ship— The Aquarium, Opera House, feeding street birds, & petting kangaroos and koalas. 😍
Loved the Celebrity ship… piña coladas, pizza, poker, and performances entertained us while sailing thru the breathtaking Milford, Dusky & Doubtful Sound fjords. Explored Napier, Auckland, Dunedin & Bay of Islands… and the PINNACLE of all (the reason we booked this trip): visiting “The Shire”… seeing the hobbit holes from The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit movie set. Still a working farm (500 acres/13,500 sheep) & perfectly preserved to look exactly like Frodo and Bilbo‘s whimsical home. It’s like walking into another world ~ so fun to see the joy on our kids’ faces! Looks exactly the same as when Daron and I came here 10 years ago for our 40th birthdays; we loved returning for our 50th, and celebrating Christmas & New Year’s together on the ship! Other trip highlights: Kas wins $18 at slots, Kenny kicks up the dance floor, Stephen eats mountains of shrimp & Bananas Foster, Teatime, ping-pong, new years revelers jumping in the pool, Eggs Benedict every morning, kids hiding around corners and scaring me, a Christmas Day sermon & carol singing, and our 26th anniversary💕
