Final Days in NZ

March 7 - March 13

Days are really flying by now, and we are getting excited to return home. However, we weren't going to just waste away the last few days. Instead, we set off to do as many of our favorite activities as we could. We first went back to Opotiki for one last stay with Liz and Tim. Long line fishing, camping at the bach house, pole fishing from the private rock beach, and boogie boarding were at the top of the list of activities.

Keris with a Blue Maumau (they're actually quite small, so we just pan fried the whole thing... well, all 4 that we caught)

A shot of the private beach. You can barely see us out at the tip of the rocks on the left.

Liz and Tim bought our car! We cleaned it up after 4 months of dusty roads, and what a beauty. It was sad to say goodbye.

We stopped for a few last photos of the Tiki totem poles near opotiki beach.

Progress at times was slow due to the cow herding along the highway. This was a fairly normal occurrence.

A quick stop off at Tauranga on the way up to Auckland. Beautiful beaches here around a peninsula.

And why not check out the beaches close to Auckland? We didn't realize there were such good beaches so close to the city, but we found them with only days to spare.

We spent our last days in Auckland with Rob and Cherie, touring around the city and making preparations for the return trip. What a fantastic adventure.

It was a complete mix of emotion the morning we had to leave. So excited to get back to our house and begin our new life, but so sad to leave behind our ideal lifestyle. We kept a list of places we didn't visit, so at least the next time we return there will be a few new adventures (not that we'd mind reliving some of the old).