By this point, this post is probably more for me (and the kids in the future) so that I actually go through our remaining vacation pictures and document what we did….Anyhow, here we go….

We spent about six days finishing our route of the North Island which is highlighted in black.

As anticipated, the day traveling to the North Island was a long one. We had about a 2.5 hour drive in the South Island to arrive at the ferry terminal. We had to arrive early to line up for the boarding process, then the ferry ride was over 3 hours. We had lunch aboard the boat, and shortly following that, we were out of fun activities already! That’s when Brent also became seasick, so he spent the entire ride on the top deck getting fresh air. I was busy entertaining the kids by attending a magic show and making laps around the rocking boat. As if that wasn’t enough fun, we decided after the boat docked in Wellington, we’d stop in the city for dinner. The kids were nearly at their wits end (and so were we!), and of course, dinner wasn’t very good. We had an hour’s drive north, and the kids finally got to sleep for the day and when we arrived at the freedom campsite along the coast, it was no longer a campsite. Brent and I circled the area trying to find the posting of where we could stay and after about an hour, we gave up and found another campsite inland about 20 minutes north. That site was completely packed and so muddy that I was afraid we were going to get stuck… we pulled in, went to bed, (prayed the next day would go better), and basically left as soon as we woke the next morning. This is probably about the day that we realized that 3 weeks was a bit too long! 🙂

The next day, we traveled a few hours to the eastern coast to Hawke’s Bay around the town of Napier. This area is a wine region– surely that would help lift the spirits! Brent sampled his way around some nice wineries, and we then got a nice campsite along the coast to recoup. It rained so we spent most of the afternoon/evening resting and watching the storms roll through.

We had the next two days at Lake Taupo enjoying time playing in the lake and checking out playgrounds. They had a fireworks show on New Year’s Eve, so after dinner, we walked down to the lake to get a nice spot for the show. Brent battled allergies the entire trip, but once we sat down and opened our bottle of champagne, he had a major attack. We didn’t last long before we headed back to the campsite for Brent to get more medicine. We were both in bed before 10pm which was the time of the fireworks show for the kids, and we slept right through the midnight show! Party animals.

Next stop was to see the geothermal springs, Wai-o-tapu. It was definitely a unique setting, but the sulfur smell was about all that I could take. Fortunately the walking tour was only about an hour.

That night we stayed at a really pretty state park. It had nice walking trails around the streams and lake as well as a petting zoo. Along the walking trail to see the waterfall, glowworms hung on the embankments.  We got to see them up close in the daylight this time. They are the horizontal clear string looking thing. The vertical droplets are what they use to catch their prey.

Ferns are very prevalent throughout New Zealand. The Maori, or native New Zealanders, used the silver underside of the guide them through the forests. The Maori would bend over the fern, and the fronds underneath would catch the moonlight and illuminate the their trail. It’s now the national symbol.

By this point, the forecast was rain for the next few days until we finished our trip so we decided to alter our itinerary. Instead of driving 4 hours to see the hot water beaches (you can dig a hole at low tide, and the thermal springs underneath fill them up with hot water), we decided to just stay a short distance from where we stayed the previous night. It worked out well to just take it easy for the next few days. When it wasn’t raining, we just spent time playing on the beaches.

We stayed in Tauranga with a view of Mt. Maunganui. The tide in the harbor changed so drastically that the kids got to go exploring for little creatures. Isla wasn’t as interested in getting muddy.

And finally to our last night… we stayed near the town of Miranda along the coast of the Firth of Thames. Because we just wanted to take it easy, it was a really good last day spent playing on the beach (and packing!). The change in tide allowed the kids to explore again, and Greyson found it hysterical to hear the “plops” that the stones would make in the really goopy mud holes. They built a fairy house of seashells and watched the birds come and feed during low tide. The changes in color during the sunset were just beautiful, and they reflected off the wet sand and water holes left behind from low tide.

The next morning, we packed up and drove to the Auckland airport. Brent got to do his favorite activity just one last time before we returned the camper…. 😜

As I had read, once you see the South Island, then you aren’t nearly as impressed by the North Island, which was true. However, I’m still glad that we did get to go through both, even if it was a bit long.

Now on to planning the next trip! Clay, Heidi and the girls come in just over a month, so there will be lots of exploring.