New Zealand: last bits

Just outside Auckland is a little train that rides through the hills of a rainforest along the waterline up to the Upper Nihotupu Dam. It's nothing fancy, and the cars we sat in were about the size of a chest freezer.




But it made for a fun little trip! We rode through several tunnels and lots of forest. We stopped on a little bridge over a creek and they let us out to stretch our legs and enjoy the view.




It was so green and lovely! Then we got back in and travelled up to the dam. We got to walk along the top and have a picnic lunch. What a nice little trip!




Along the way back they turned off the lights in one of the tunnels and we saw glow worms on the walls. It was like looking at a starry night sky. Beautiful!
On the day that Isaac was down with a fever, in a short burst of feeling better we hit a park down the street from the hotel. What gorgeous trees! We all had fun climbing around.
















And we found this beautiful magnolia flower! It's almost as big as Evelyn!




On our last day in New Zealand we made a short stop to the beach for a quick play and to eat our lunch. Oh, just gorgeous!

It's a good thing we didn't plan on swimming because the water was freezing! Look at this sand! It was black and sparkled like glitter! It looked great with my Christmas red toenails!




What a great place for a picnic!




Well, there it was! New Zealand is an amazing country! It was wonderful to see so many beautiful things, but boy, are we glad to be home!