The bubbling town of Rotorua, then on to Christchurch, New Zealand

On our final day in Auckland, we walked down to the harbor and took a short ferryride over to Devonport , a small village on the North Shore that is home to New Zealand’s Navy. We explored for a bit, including on North Head, where these photos were snapped, ate lunch at a café and headed back to Mt. Eden.

On Wednesday, we hopped an early bus south four hours to Rotorua, New Zealand’s most famous tourist town. Rotorua is known for its geothermal hot springs, bubbling mud polls and geysers. However, what we didn’t know was the sulfurous gases put out by the springs make the town smell like rotten eggs. We spent the afternoon and evening at a spa, dipping in various geothermal pools that were good for our muscles, joints, and skin.

Thursday was drizzly, but we walked around the town of Rotorua anyway, including the Kuirau volcanic park. We listened to a cover band at a pub called the Pig & Whistle and enjoyed our first adult beverages of the trip.

Friday we traveled to Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand. We took a beautiful three hour ferrry ride from the North Island (the city Wellington) to the South Island (the small village Picton) and then an awesome train ride down the rugged northeast coast of the island to Christchurch (see photos from ferry and train). We look forward to exploring Christchurch next!