All good things must come to an end...NZ post #4

Continuing our road trip further north, we stopped at the Waitomo glow worm caves. Now, those of you who know me well, know one of my biggest fears are worms. I think it stemmed from an experience in third grade, but that is beside the point. Needless to say, I was a little hesitant when Josh said he wanted to do this. Ideally, he wanted to float down on a little inner tube through the cave, but I had to draw the line somewhere. Well, I don't know if I am just totally uneducated when it comes to the insect world but I was quite relieved to learn that glow worms aren't actual slimy night crawlers that glow in the dark. They are maggots (which aren't much better) and they secrete this mucus (which too is disgusting) that hangs from the ceiling in which they catch their prey. But somehow, the whole experience was pretty mesmerizing. We took a boat ride through the caves covered in glow worms, which gave the effect of a starry night sky. Kind of a random thing to do, but worth the stop. Next up, the beach side town of Paihia. The first day there we attended church at the small branch. The Branch President and his wife were kind enough to invite us over for a traditional Maori dinner. The Maori's are very generous and hospitable and I witnessed this with every one we came in contact with. Another highlight of the trip was the R. Tucker Thompson boat ride. I think Josh secretly wants to be a pirate(...and a cowboy, and a fire fighter...and a...) and was so excited he pretty much took over the ship. There were only a handful of us on the ship and we were responsible for "running" the ship, i.e hoisting the sails, etc. After our hot chocolate and biscuits on board we sailed for a couple hours to the shore. We were able to climb to the top of a hill and look out over the ocean. On the hill were bunkers and other structures built for lookout use during WWII. It was an unexpected surprise and I thoroughly enjoyed this historical aspect we encountered. When we got back to the ship, we had lunch waiting for us, and a rope swing calling Josh's name. It was a unique experience that we both really enjoyed! The last day there, we went to the Waitangi treaty grounds/Maori museum. I had been wanting to go to something like this, to get an idea of some of the Maori history and culture. We attended a show where I was taught how to do the poi poi and Josh did a mean haka (think BYU football pregame). Well, knowing our vacation was coming to an end, I decided I wanted one day to relax on the beach. Josh however had other plans and wanted to take on sea kayaking. Needless to say, Josh went kayaking, I read my book on the beach, which led to a short nap, which in turn led to a severe sunburn. Lucky for me it was the last day of our vacation, unlucky for me, it made for a pretty uncomfortable plane ride home. Well, as the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end", and it was bitter sweet leaving this amazing country. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn't so anxious to see my kids, I couldn't get home fast enough!! We were truly blessed to have been able to go on this trip. Thanks to my in laws (a billion times over) for watching our kiddies and everyone else who helped out. And a big thanks to my travel agent a.k.a Josh, and his months of planning that made this trip even better than I could've ever imagined. Farewell New Zealand...that is until next time. hehehe


I was surprised, this was a lot harder than it looked...check out the concentration!
Josh and one other guy were the only ones who braved the rope swing. Josh definitely won style points on the back flip, however his form could use some work.

Ahoy Mateys! Josh climbing up to the crows nest (don't worry Mama Dean he had a harness on)

I like this pic because you can see the R. Tucker Thompson in the background.
This might look like raising the sails was easy, but give it some time...

and clearly I was struggling. I gotta hand it to those sailors, this was hard work!

Just a random pic of a "dairy". We frequented these for our sugar fix. Josh introduced me to all sorts of delicious junk food including, new flavors of ice cream, gummy candies, and of course the beloved licorice, I couldn't get enough! If I drove by a building like this in the U.S. there's a good chance I wouldn't have eaten anything from there. But the ghetto wallpapered facade drew me in every time!

We couldn't take pictures in the cave, apparently the glow worms were a little camera shy, so here is an okay image of the glow worm caves.