Napier - Wellington - Home (2018-03-30)

My sister Margaret joined us for most of our last week in Napier.  We filled our days with walks, visits with the cousins, a movie, and of course coffee at Cafe Ahuriri and St. Germain Cafe in Napier - so much to do, so little time.  We also had lunch at the Mission Estate Winery to celebrate Margaret's birthday (as if we needed an excuse).

Another mural - Ahuriri

White Pines Reserve, North of Napier

 The day after Margaret left us, we boarded the Intercity bus to Wellington, but not before one last bike ride around the wetlands and one last coffee & date scone at Cafe Ahuriri, with cousins Maureen and Denzil.  We enjoy Napier more with each visit, and especially enjoyed our accommodation in Westshore - location, location, location.

For our time in Wellington we were joined by our daughter Heather and her family, who were in New Zealand for a two week spring break.  We spent lots of time with our grandkids, including visits to Te Papa and the Wellington Zoo, and visiting with their great aunts and cousin Hollie.

Marlene at Wellington Zoo

On the grandchildren's last day in Wellington we all took a day trip to Featherston, to visit the Fell Engine museum and to see all the animals at Auntie Tricia's farm.  Heather and family then left Wellington 2 days before us, heading to Rotorua for their last few days in New Zealand.

When the big day came we were ready to head home....2 1/2 months is a long time to be away from home.  We had one last coffee with Margaret and family in the morning, before boarding NZ440 to Auckland.  It was a beautiful day for flying and we had great views as we flew up the coast.

Mount Taranaki (Egmont) from NZ440

As we walked from the domestic terminal to the international terminal in Auckland, we ran into my cousin Karyn and her husband Ian, who were returning from a trip to Honolulu.  So, we fit in one last family visit before heading for our flight to Vancouver.

The flight was 13 hours, getting us to Vancouver 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and was relatively pleasant - I slept or dozed for most of it.  A great end to a great holiday!