Sweet as!

I love New Zealand. Unbelievable. It's exceeded my hopes and expectations. I only spent one day in Auckland and I think it may rank as my favorite city in the world. I don't know what it was, but I just felt so comfortable there. I think being surrounded by water and mountains probably helped. Interesting fact- The total population of NZ is about 4 million and 1.4 million live in Auckland. But, honestly, it didn't feel crowded at all.
Day 1 highlights:
1. Sky Tower- great! I opted to pay the extra $2 so that we could go up twice, once during the day and once again at night, well worth it.
2. Kelly Tarton's aquarium- not worth it unfortunately. They had some cool penguins and sharks, but very pricey and we've been spoiled by the Boston Aquarium!
3. Mini-golf- lol I know, right? Day 1 in NZ and we play mini-golf, but we loved it, we played both courses and enjoyed the views.
We walked what felt like the entire city and saw neat architecture and parks and fountains, etc. Our hotel room (All Seasons) was very cute, it even had a stove, mini fridge and microwave and it was smack dab in the center of the city. Perfect.
Day 2 (Tuesday) had us waking up early to start our Kiwi Experience Tour. It was a little bit of a hectic, delayed start, but I will say things have been smooth since leaving Auckland as promised.
Highlights:
1. The bus first brought us to Mt. Eden, an old dormant volcano with 360 degree views of the city
2. Then on to the Coromandel Penisula. But I have to say, the small town, Thames, for lunch was odd. We stopped at a strip mall that had a food court. Note- Sbucks mochas taste the same here and are still delicious, McDonald's mochas do not.
3. SEA KAYAKING at Cathedral Cove. Before I left for New Zealand I kept saying how I couldn't wait to go sea kayaking. Wow. Speechless.
4. Turtle Cove Hostel- loved it. They served us a group meal and then, I thought this was very smart, they played a gamed called "Killa Pool." Everyone's name (who wanted to play) went up on a chalkboard with three lines and we each took one turn at time at the pool table, gaining or losing lines depending on how we did, leading to one by one elimination. It was brilliant in my opinion because it was a way to learn names! And everyone was very social hanging out all around the pool table. Oh, and guess who won? MARK! :) Probably the youngest there and he crushed 'em.
Day 3 Highlights:
1. Karangahanke Scenic Reserve- we walked through an old mining gorge and through some of the tunnels in the mountain. Beautiful.
2. Rotorua- We chose not to pay to go in the Te Puia, the thermal park with geysers and pools and chose to go check in at the hostel and walk around the park across the street which also had a sampling of the sulfur pools. It's pretty incredible to watch water or mud just boiling from the ground.
3. Luging- A version of Attitash's alpine slide. Fun and the views of Lake Rotorua were beautiful.
4. Traditional Maori dinner- Mark was a little hesitant on this one, but I think we both agree it was well worth it! He was chosen to be the "Chief" of our bus which meant he played a prominent role in the entire evening's proceedings.
Photos (and maybe some more details) to be added to this post tomorrow.
Big note-I'm too old for dorm style hostel-living. Thank goodness all dorms have the option of a single room with two twin beds. I tried one night of dormitory-style (tonight) and I'm not a fan.