Our welcome to New Zealand with a little music in the background… it quite possibly should have made us dance the ‘Haka’ right there in the airport. But of course, Marissa would be incredibly proud of her parents for such a stir — we opted to just walk through.
Joyce decided to join us in New Zealand then Australia for a couple of weeks. Why not? She arrived early one morning and to be helpful we decided to keep her moving during the day to keep her awake but in turn, jet leg was somewhat evaded.
To start off we decided the Auckland three hour walking tour was just the remedy for staying awake. We love the Free tours in many of the cities we have visited and this was no different (although you do leave a tip). They entrench you in grueling and incredible history dubbed with stories and people from over the years. You really get to know the city, where things are and what you want to visit first. We would highly recommend doing this first thing when visiting any city.
The tree Marissa is sitting in is protected in New Zealand and their branches reach to gigantic proportions. You are not allowed to trim or cut them in anyway. It quit possibly would make the base for the most incredible treehouse.
After our walking tour we drove over to the West Coast for a little waterfall walk (Yep, more walking) but on the way we had to stop quit often as there was incredible and perfect photo moments. Dale’s photography radar was going off constantly which translated to many stops along the way, there were a few moments when we thought we might just not make it to the waterfall.
“Kitekite Falls”
Proof we made it!
And Joyce said she has never slept better, go figure!