Day 1: Picked up Britz and drove about 3 hours south to the town of Rotorua. We stayed at an RV holiday park that night, which was perfect for us since they provide hookups, hot showers and usually a kitchen and internet. Our campervan was pretty small for the 3 of us, so not being crammed in there 24/7 was a lifesaver.
Day 2: Woke up and drove about an hour to Lake Taupo. Kevin and I were set on bungy jumping and we found a great place that had a nice jump into a river, surrounded by a canyon. That sounded much better than jumping off a bridge with cars racing by above. I was a bit nervous at first, but knew once I paid the $100 that I couldn't turn back. Kev jumped first and did a regular dive head first and got dunked to his waist in the river. Next was my turn. After strapping in and walking to the edge of the platform, I was feeling pretty nervous. I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes and dove off the edge to fall 150 feet! I wasn't heavy enough to touch the water, but it was still such a thrill. Kevin loved it so much he went a second time and jumped backwards. Crazy guy. I wasn't able to talk Zach into doing it - maybe someday he'll skydive with me.
Lake Taupo
So happy to be standing on land after the jump!
After recovering, we stopped by Huka Falls which was pretty interesting, then drove 6 hours down to Wellington, the southernmost city of the North Island. It was raining and we got there at dusk, so we weren't able to see much of the city at night. We stayed at another holiday park and enjoyed those hot showers again.
Huka Falls
Day 3: Walked around Wellington in the morning even though it was cold, windy and rainy. Welly seems like a nice town - pretty small compared to most major cities. Next stop was a golf course for the guys. We found an 18-hole course (really just someone's home/land) for $25 each and it ended up being in a beautiful setting - on 3 levels overlooking cliffs, sheep pastures and a river. I walked with them for a while and helped carry the 4 clubs that they had...and of course took a ton of pictures! At the end of the 18 holes, the only way to get back up to the top cliff was to take a home-made lift about 100 feet up. That was pretty unique!
"Bernie's Bomb" Lift
After golf, we drove as long as we could, which ended up being about 7 hours into the early morning. Coffee and Tim Tams got Zach and I through the drive while Kev was passed out on the back bed. After we couldn't go anymore, we stopped along the road and camped out for the night.
Day 4: Another early morning start - we drove through Auckland up to the Bay of Islands, which was about 4 hours away. I'm sure it would have been absolutely beautiful up there, but unfortunately we got caught in a storm and had rain and fog most of the way. We did see hot pink sheep though, which was pretty exciting.
Kevin and Zach found another golf course and putted around in the rain while I took a nap. After that, we headed to our final holiday park and made some yummy chicken tortilla soup for dinner.
Day 5: Drove 3 hours back to Auckland to drop Kevin off at the airport to fly home. Zach and I then killed about 3 hours around town enjoying our last moments in the camper. We dropped it off in the afternoon, then caught a shuttle to a little motel that we stayed at for the night.
We're now back in Auckland for the weekend staying with a family that Grammy and Papa met back in March. The down time has been really nice as we're preparing for our long flight back on Tuesday.
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