We had a great time and the kids especially enjoyed themselves. As I start to sort through the photos I'll put some up for you all to see. Here's a brief summary of what we got up to.
Wellington (1 night)
We flew into Wellington and stayed just one night. This was too short as it was a very pretty harbour city and we think that there was more around that we could have seen if we had the time. Highlights were the Chinese buffet (kids cost just their age, i.e. 8 yrs old = $8) and the Te Papa museum.
Napier (1 night)
We went north from Wellington, detoured through Martinborough and stopped after a long day's drive in Napier. The highlight here was the black rock beach at Napier and the short visit to Martinborough which had some nice wineries including one that had its premium label as 'The Great Harry' (no, we didn't get any, at $200/magnum it would want to be good...http://www.palliser.co.nz/n98.html)
Taupo (2 nights)
Taupo sits right on a large lake and was adventure city for us. We went bungy jumping into water (only some of us) and jet boating. The accommodation was great and there was plenty of grass and parks around for the kids to play cricket, touch and ride on a small train. The five kids put on a 'Harry Potter' play for us which kept the big people entertained. Highlights would be the bungy and jet boat.
Rotorua (3 nights)
Or as the kids had so much fun saying, 'Roto-sewer'. Despite the smell, we did have a good time in Rotorua. After a problem with our first night's accommodation, we found much nicer digs and settled in for a good stay. We had fun swimming in heated pools, visiting real live kiwis and riding a 'luge' down a big hill. Paul (my brother-in-law) and I even went sledging, which is like jumping on a plastic boogie board and swimming down rapids. Highlights here would be the cultural night where we were treated to a Maori ceremony and hungi, and either the luge or sledging. Having said that, the smell is the thing that will probably live longest in the children's minds.
Auckland (1 night)
Our final night was spent in a typical city apartment, overlooking a busy street with lots of noise. We were right across the street from a reverse bungy ride where passengers are strapped into a three-seat open-air pod and flung 50m or so into the air as they spin around. I think the latest I heard people screaming on this ride was 1am. Looking out the window was very entertaining as we also saw:
- what we presumed was a guy out on his buck's night dressed in S&M gear pole dancing against a street sign to the crowd
- a group dressed as caveman dancing down the street, and
- the cops pulling over cars and doing a full body search of the driver and passengers on the street.
That's it for now but I will be back with photos soon.