A journey's end

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Leaving Kaikoura we hopped back on the ferry for the sailing up to the north island. The seas were quite rocky and the boat was bouncing all around. Fortunately we were both pretty tired and slept a good portion of the trip so we were hungry by the time we arrived in Wellington. The restaurant we really wanted to eat at was closed (being a Sunday and all) so we just looked for what was close to the hotel since it was raining pretty good. We found that Shed 5 was pretty close by and headed out to try it. Wow! This was one of our best meals in NZ! I had scallops with blue cheese risotto and tempora pea pods, Mike had grilled snapper with calamari hoods, chirizo, and olive gnocchi. They were both incredible. To make it even better, we had a supurb wine as well.

The last day in NZ was mellow and a little sad. We tried hard not to think about leaving and just focus on enjoying the space around us. It turned out that Prince William was coming over for the opening of a new government building. Since our hotel was right by parliment we wandered down and ended up getting to see the prince. He was literally an arms length away from me. I got some pictures but didnt get them loaded on the computer yet (sorry. If you adore the british royalty let me know and I'll send them to you). We bummed around the city, had lunch, etc. It was a beautiful day so it was nice just to sit outside in the sun and watch the world go by...especially since we knew it was probably the last time either of us could be outside in short sleeve shirts for a few more months. We had a early dinner at the restaurant we wanted to try the night before (Maria Pia's Trattoria). It was delicious - ranked number 2 or 3 of best meals of the trip. I think I enjoyed it even more because it really reminded me of dining in Italy. With the good wine, good meals, three desserts (yes, that is 3 desserts for the two of us...we just couldnt decide!), and some lemoncello we were giddy the rest of the night.

Short sleep as wake up was 3am on Tuesday (that is somewhere around 7pm Monday night in WI) to leave the hotel at 4am and get on our flight. I am now in the lounge in the Sydney airport waiting for the flight to the US and the reality of returning home is kicking in. With a trip this long I thought I'd be ready to get home but it is not the case. I am sad to leave behind such a great place. If any of you are wealthy and want to fund a relocation/permanent lifestyle in New Zealand I'm happy to accept such an offer 😊 You can even come visit when you want to do some canyoning!

See you all in the US - I should be in WI by about 830pm Tuesday (36 hours from when we left NZ).

Kia Ora!

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