New Zealand - Bay of Islands

Once we finally made it to the Bay of Islands, we just "hung" out and enjoyed the view and the "cold" pool. The pool was not heated, and surprisingly it was actually pretty cold.
This was a failed retaining wall at our hotel - more evidence of all the rain here.

We took a ferry to a town called Russell, and climbed up to Flagstaff Lookout. The views were once again amazing.

This is Long Beach which was also in Russell.

I had the afternoon to shop, while Pat took the kids to an Adventure Park in Paihia that is actually run by some Olympic gymnasts. Apparently Pat tried the tight rope!

One highlight of this trip was our Dolphin Cruise. We saw 3 or 4 pods of dolphins, and Taylor and Pat actually got to swim with them.

This is a boom net that is used to quickly move everyone to where the dolphins are swimming. Taylor and Pat are on the lower left. The kids also got to ride in it for fun at the end of the cruise.

We also got to cruise through this big "hole in the rock".

As part of the cruise we also got to have lunch on this small island. We packed our own lunch and ate it on the beach. You can see our boat anchored in the distance.

This is Pat doing a swimming start! We did a small hike out to see Harura Falls.

This is the view from another hike. it was the lookout from Lady Besloe.

Pat and Brody are enjoying the view from another hike.

New Zealand - Auckland

We started our trip to New Zealand in Auckland - it really is a pretty big city. We took a ferry to a town called Devonport, and walked up Mount Victoria. It is an extinct volcano. The 360 degree views from the top were beautiful - just like a postcard. In fact, we now understand why people say this is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Here are some pictures from the sky tower. This is the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. Riley wanted to bungee jump from the top, but you had to be 10 years old.

Here is a picture of Mack - the resident dog at our hotel. Hopefully Brandy and Bailey won't be jealous!

On the drive to Paihia, we stopped at Sheep World. They showed us how they use the herding dogs to round up the sheep. It was really amazing how well the dogs were trained! Pat even had to help "sort" sheep. It was pretty funny. They all came flying through the chute, and he had to move doors on the gate to send them into the right chute.

We even got to bottle feed this 1 week old lamb. Riley was upset because the lamb got poop all over her pants!

We arrived in New Zealand shortly after the 100 year storm. There were many signs of the storm, such as this farm that was flooded.