Return to New Zealand - November 2010

The weather was gray and rainy when we woke up, we were doing well at dodging the rain for our activities. We had breakfast and then headed to the airport for an hour and forty minute flight up to Auckland. Picked up another car and headed north. Outside of Auckland we fought with the GPS and some road construction for a bit, then made it to Subway for lunch. Drove another 3 hours north, with an interesting 10 minute dirt road portion, courtesy of Linguo (the GPS).

Around 5pm we arrived at Kauri Cliffs Resort, a fantastic lodge and golf course right on the ocean, with 6000 acres of surrounding countryside. Our rooms were just down the path, two big adjoining villas with huge bathrooms and closets, and wonderful views of the ocean. We settled in, then headed back to the lodge for pre-dinner cocktails.

For dinner we sat in the main dining room and had a delicious meal with very friendly staff. The drinks were great as well, as was dessert. Afterwards we walked back to the rooms and went to sleep.

After a wonderful breakfast at 8:30, we walked downstairs and picked up two golf carts to tour the property. We had fun driving along the paths and taking in the views. After circling the first nine holes, we went back to the lodge and started a hike.

We walked along some dirt roads, past sheep and cows, then down to a waterfall. After hopping around the rocks at the base of the waterfall, we stopped at a picnic table where the staff had delivered a picnic lunch for us, complete with cushions, plates and silverware, and even dessert. Wonderfully decadent.

Kerry, the general manager, picked us up and drove us back to the lodge. We grabbed some more golf carts to see the back nine holes, the views were just as spectacular from there! At 3pm Randy headed to the spa for a manicure/pedicure, Rick went to the gym to stretch, and Fred and Katie tried their hand at golf on the driving range. At 4 Rick had a massage, then Rick and Randy went in the jacuzzi by the pool, while Fred and Katie had their massages in the spa.

At 7 we went to the lodge for cocktails, then had a wonderful 5 course meal in the library. The food was delicious and the portions were perfectly sized. A great way to finish the day!

We had another great breakfast, then went back to the room to the review the travelog so far and look at pictures.

At 11 we hopped in a van for a quick ride to the helipad, where we were picked up in a really nice Eurocopter. Our pilot took us across the island and landed at a small resort where we were picked up by Bill, our Mauri guide. He drove us about 20 minutes to see Taney Mahuta, a giant kauri tree that's over 40 feet around and over 2000 years old. It was really spectacular!

After driving back to the coast we went back up in the helicopter and toured the Bay of Islands, back on the east coast of the north island. The colors of the sea were brilliant blue-green, it looked a lot like the Caribbean. Then it was back to Kauri Cliffs, where we relaxed in the room and enjoyed the view. Randy worked on making a few movie trailers for the trip, really nice to be able to put the new iMovie to work!

At 7 we met in the lodge where we showed Fred and Katie the movies, had cocktails, and then headed in for dinner. Once again the food was delicious, and the desserts (with samples from the cheese trolley) were tasty. Afterwards it was back to the room for an episode of The Office and then sleep.

Our last day! Breakfast in the lodge, then we spent time packing and getting Linguo ready for Fred and Katie's two weeks in Australia. After packing up the car we said goodbye to the wonderful staff and headed for the Kerikeri airport, about 30 minutes away. We had a short 40 minute flight down to Auckland.

We rented a car and drove in to Auckland and went to the top of the Sky City Tower. Looked around over the city, had lunch, then went back to the airport. We had about 4 hours which went by pretty quickly watching Survivor and The Office on the iPad. On board our flight we slept for about 7 of the 12 hours, arriving back home around 11am Monday morning. Home!