Our last day in NZ

This was a rough day. Knowing that the vacation of a lifetime is almost over…lots of great memories, but still, we could have stayed in New Zealand for another 5 weeks and not missed a thing! Anyway, we spent the day winding our way down from the Bay of Islands to Auckland.

Along the way, we played in one of the coolest water­falls we’ve found yet. Check it:

See that cave behind it? How can I not go explore a cave behind a waterfall!?

(BTW that pose is called the “intrepid explorer.” Now you know.)

Yes, Mom, I did check the water I was jumping into first for deadly rocks and spiky branches.

After our swim, we drove on to a spot called Goat Island, where, again, we had high hopes for snor­keling. The water was so rough though that is stirred up too much silt, and the waves made Christine a bit sick, so we spent time on the shore, and had a picnic lunch.

And then, the adventure part of our honeymoon was over. We drove back into Auckland, found a nice restaurant in the harbour area (near an America’s Cup sailboat that was mounted like a statue) and ate a nice dinner. Our flight was early the next morning, and after a couple hours we had converted our stuff from “car mode” to “travel mode.” It was a depressing night, knowing it was over. This photo of Christine in the plane watching New Zealand slip away behind us pretty much sums it up:

We have one more day of fun left, but the NZ part of our trip is over.

…Mike