End of trip trip across the North Island

So, it's true. The North Island of NZ, being warmer (this was a very hard thing for a Northern Hemispherian to adapt to--the idea that NORTH is WARM and SOUTH is COLD), does really have more boats. We loved the east cost up through the Coromandel, and all of us enjoyed our stay in Auckland. We got to take the ferry across the Cook Straits to Wellington, and stayed in a hotel overlooking the harbour there. Rotorua (where we got to take a ride on a SEAplane), the Coromandel and it's beautiful bays, and then Auckland. Where we got to join the other tourists for a 2 hour-tour on a retired America's Cup boat. THAT was a blast. I even got to go into the pit to pull in the spinnaker. How many people get to do that in their lifetimes, huh? Expensive, but well worth it.

Flying home was both sad and exciting. Maybe next time we get to NZ we will be in our own boat. Another dream come true!