Auckland & Waitomo

And then there were three
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We'd been planning to meet up with David's mum in New Zealand halfway through our trip and it was hard to believe the time had come. It was fantastic to see her and we set about making the most of our three weeks in New Zealand together. Straight away we knew she'd fit in as she proudly revealed she'd 'borrowed' the cutlery on the plane for our picnics.

With only one day to explore Auckland we strolled around the new harbourside development (the highlight of the city centre), and took a ferry across the bay to the pretty suburb of Devonport. We had a paddle in the very blue sea and had our first of many afternoon cake stops.

View of Auckland from across the bay at Devonport
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The big challenge for us still adjusting to leaving South America was to try not to speak Spanish in the shops and restaurants, and going from famine to feast on the amount of tourist information leaflets available.

The next day we got our hire car and went to Waitomo Caves. Black Water Rafting for us, and a glow worms cave tour for Bette (Dave's mum). Michelle had been before and we both enjoyed the unique experience of floating in a rubber tube down rivers in the dark underground. Thanks to Paul and Nancy for treating us to this trip - it was great!