Auckland

Today we woke up around 8 and had a pretty lazy morning before our last day exploring New Zealand. We left our hotel around 10 to wander around Auckland and see what we could see :). On our docket for the day? Finding a pharmacy (since I ran out of facewash) and a bracelet (since I still hadn't acquired one in New Zealand).

We stopped for breakfast on Shortland Street - delicious bacon and egg sandwiches - and then made our way to the pharmacy. Along the way we stopped in EVERY souvenir shop and basically found...nothing... so we kept searching. We used our Lonely Planet travel book as our guide, wandering around Queen Street, in and out of several laneways (my FAVORITE!) and through some parks, Albert Park and Myers Park. We also found...

the University of Auckland and its clock tower:

the Auckland Sky Tower:

Aotea Square:

where we found a random iHeartRadio concert with an Irish band:

As we wandered through Myers Park it began to pour...so we decided to take advantage of the recently vacated playground and have some fun there...aka Jon pushed me around on a tired swing until I felt sick. Fun!

Fortunately as we left the park the rain let up and we continued to wander around the city for the next few hours. Around 4 we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We checked the internet and hung out before heading out for a bite to eat...although we could NOT for the life of us agree on a place to eat...until we ended up with mediocre kebabs. Womp womp. Kinda looking forward to not really having to make food choices for the next few days when we're in Fiji!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel to pack and get all our stuff in line for our travels to Fiji tomorrow. While we're both looking forward to Fiji, we're also crossing our fingers that we'll have some good weather...forecast isn't looking great at the moment!!

Also, YES we are looking forward to Fiji, but New Zealand has just been SO wonderful these past 2 1/2 weeks. We've loved so many different cities and activities we've done here. From our adventures in our camper van to beach days, cool cities, hikes and waterfalls, cave exploring, etc. etc. etc., oh and, ya know, SKY DIVING, New Zealand has just been amazing. We are SO glad that we spent so long exploring the North Island, and we are REALLY looking forward to our next trip back here to explore the South Island! And then who knows? Maybe a homestead in NZ is in the cards for the future? :)

Thanks for the beautiful memories, New Zealand - we promise we'll be back soon!

For now, time for sleep - off to Fiji SUPER early tomorrow!

Jess' highlight of the day: Albert Park bird watching
Jon's highlight of the day: Albert Park