Exploring the North Island with the Canadian crew

On January 2nd (Happy Birthday Chris), Dad and Marielle, Chris, Colin and Emily, and Edwin and I piled into our rented passenger van to tour the central north island for a week. (There seems to be a pattern here, as Chris and I invited ourselves and our partners along on Dad and Marielle's honeymoon, too!) Our first stop was back to Hahei, to enjoy one last view of the gorgeous beach and eat some more fish and chips. On our second day, we visited with Uncle John and Aunty Tui on their property on Matakana Island, before spending the night in Tauranga. We went to the Mill's Reef winery before heading to Whakatane for a visit with Edwin's friend Susan, who he had known during university. We spent three nights in Rotorua, and visited Te Puia and the Agrodome. Our last nights were in Taupo, with a visit to Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon.

Through our whole journey, the best traveller of all of us was our four-month old niece, Emily. After dancing all night with various aunties and grandmas at our wedding reception, she was ready to have a bit of a nap, and she slept soundly most of the time we were travelling between towns, in the van. Although she fussed a little when we put her into her stroller, Chris says she's really faking it, and she loved to be pushed from place to place, taking in the sights along with the rest of us.

It was really nice to be able to tour around with family, Edwin was a great tour guide, pointing out all the sites along the way. The scenery was great, the people we met were very friendly, and we had great weather the whole way except for our last couple of days in Taupo, where it rained just a bit. It was hard to say good-bye to everyone, as we parted ways in Taupo - Edwin and I headed west to Raglan to meet up with his family, and the Canucks spent a couple more days trout fishing in Taupo before heading back to Auckland for their return flights.

Location: Wellington, New Zealand