Welcome to New Zealand

Another plane ride - so exciting. More good food, movies galore, and 11 hours of pampering. Again, excited to go to the airport.

Upon arriving in Auckland we grabbed a ferry to Waiheke Island, about 30 minutes outside of the city. We were guests of Michael's San Francisco roommate Rochelle's family who were there for the weekend. As we've done many times during this trip we managed to arrive in the middle of a major holiday - this time, Easter. The Wordsworths were incredibly generous and welcoming of us. Home cooked meals, dinners at lovely bistros, fluffy towels, visits from the Easter bunny, and a bed with sheets and a wonderful view were only some of the luxuries we experienced.

One morning we took in a hike along the water to Palm Beach. Well the intention was to take a walk along the water but in reality we ended up wandering the streets somewhat but this too was enjoyable. Plus, an ice cream stand with milkshakes magically appeared at the end of our walkabout. I'm so grateful for proper dairy.





As painful as it was to leave the Wordsworths, we had to get moving. For the first time in a while we did have somewhat of a schedule to keep. Michael's sister Susanne is meeting us in Christchurch in about a week so we had to see our sites on the North Island before meeting up.

That said, we rented a cute little car called the Starlet. I've never heard of this car but I liked the sound of it...and it was the cheapest one we could find.



After picking her up we headed three hours south to Waitomo, land of the glowworms.