New Zealand

We went to New Zealand with Andy's parents, and Brian/Emily Kausler, Andy's business partner. They had a handful of clients to meet with throughout the trip, and we got to do tons of fun things. I'll list them in order then you can just enjoy the pictures!
1- Our first day we attended the Hamilton New Zealand temple! It was packed! I was so impressed with the faith of the LDS saints there who were mainly of Maori descent.
2 - Andy and I dove the Poor Knights' Marine Preserve. I didn't freeze as much as I remembered freezing in California so that was good and the fish and plant life were abundant. We got to see some seals and a shark.
3 - While the guys worked, we visited some geothermal vents and springs in Rotorua. They were smelly but cool. My favorite part was the places where new vents were forming and they just put a construction cone over them. It looked like a smoking witches hat and was a good place to warm our hands... we saw some cats laying by the cones who seems to like it too!
4 - We toured the Hobbiton movie set. Did you know I'd would've made the cut to be a Hobbit in the movie since I'm so short? The weather had been pretty rainy on and off up to this point, but we were spoiled with a beautiful clear day!
5 - We drove a crazy long windy road to the eastern coast to visit Kawhia's Hot Water Beach. I have a love for the ocean I can't explain so this was my highlight by far. This beach was practically deserted, had black sand, epic views, and to top it all off, my other favorite HOT WATER! Sitting in a hot bath right at the edge of the waves is bound to be one of the highlights of my life, lol.
6 - Redwoods night tree walk - there trees are only 100 year old but almost the size of the redwoods in California at 2000 years old... I guess the growing conditions for them in NZ are much more favorable and they grow a lot faster.
7 - Skyline Luges - Andy loved this more than everything else. He could've rode the ski lift up and luged down the mountain all day. I'm not much of a racer and didn't keep up very well, but he and Brian had some crazy races. Check them out on youtube... https://youtu.be/PP_-axxhT9o
https://youtu.be/sRe7MYO2_yY
8 - Rainbow Springs - seeing the Kiwi bird was cool as their weird and almost extinct, but I think we'd all agree that their crazy, half broken, boat elevator log ride made this place well worth the effort!
9 - Mitai Cultural Dinner - Although a bit long and drawn out, eating native food and seeing the native culture is always a classic. We got to see NZ's famous glowworms in the bush walk after dinner which was my favorite part. Andy and I lagged way behind the group so we could see all the glowworms without other people's lights getting in our way. There were hundreds.. it looked like the starts.
10 - Kerosene Creek -  I was sad to not see this hot river so since we were up at 5 AM everyday because our bodies never really adjusted, we drove over and took a dip in this creek. SO COOL and kinda creepy :)

ON TO AUSTRALIA, MATE!