Our last hurrah...

Glowworms and dolphins. These are the two creatures we have spent the better part of the past three days observing.

We began with the glowworms, and the place for this is Waitomo, on the North Island of New Zealand. We are still not sure what glowworms really are, but from what we have been able to surmise, they are tiny worms which prefer dark, damp areas and which cast a bright light from their rear ends in order to attract potential prey into their web. Virtually invisible by day, these creatures create something akin to a starry, night sky on the river banks and cave walls where they reside.

We first viewed these fascinating critters during a night hike just outside of Waitomo. Our first impression upon seeing the thousands of tiny specks of light along the banks of the river was that the first person who happened to stumble upon this phenomenon must have been awfully freaked out by the experience. We've never seen anything like it. Even stranger was our black water rafting trip the next day, where we were treated to this light show while floating through a series of caves hundreds of feet below a large, New Zealand farm.

As if the worms weren't enough, we found a diamond in the rough when we stumbled upon the Waitomo Express farm, where we rented their sole room for the night - a converted 1st class passenger car from the Waitomo Express train, which used to run through the area. Tiffany even found a cow on the premises which would let her pet him, although I am now concerned she has foot and mouth disease.

From Waitomo we made our up to the Bay of Islands in the northern part of the North Island. Having endured a driving rainstorm yesterday, we finally made it out onto the water today so that we could swim with the dolphins. We spotted a pod of approximately 25 dolphins almost immediately upon setting sail, however our guides informed us that swimming with the dolphins is only permitted if (a) there are no babies in the pod, (b) the dolphins are not feeding, (c) the weather conditions are right, (d) the dolphins are not sleeping, and (e) the dolphins are not traveling. It seemed to Tiffany and I that we would have a better chance of finding another cow to pet than a pod of dolphins which met these virtually impossible criteria. So much for swimming with the dolphins.

It's hard to believe, but I am writing this from the airport in Auckland, New Zealand waiting to fly back to Chicago. The honeymoon is, for all intents and purposes, over and neither of us is too happy about it. More on that in a few days. At least we can say we went out with a bang. We were fortunate to have spent our last night in New Zealand (and last night on the honeymoon) at the lovely Hotel du Vin, a working vineyard / inn just outside of Auckland. Not only was our room fabulous (including a huge hot tub), but we were situated virtually on top of the grapes! In addition, available to us right on the premises were a vast array of activities, including such diverse diversions as tennis, biking, shooting clay pigeons and massage. Tiffany and I even managed to squeeze in a game of Croquette before setting off for the airport. Tiffany of course never informed me during our dating years that she was an ace at the game - turns out her family used to play at picnics. I didn't know anybody played croquette in Chicago.

As we sit here awaiting 22 hours of flying fun, we have decided that we are truly sad to be leaving New Zealand (which only adds to our sadness that the honeymoon is over). We covered over 4,000 kilometers between our North and South Island sojourns, and loved each and every minute of it. It seems that almost everywhere we looked there was a majestic snowcapped peak blocking our view, often flanked by one or more reflecting lakes with impossibly deep blue waters. But even more memorable are the country's friendly inhabitants. Tiffany and I just can't seem to get over how unusually nice the people are down here. Everyone, from day guides to bellhops, consistently refused our efforts to tip them for a job well done, usually responding to our overtures by saying something to the effect, "no, you keep it. Spend it on yourselves. Enjoy the rest of your holiday." In fact, one gas station attendant simply would not let me fill up my own tank - he literally took the pump out of my hand in mid-fill (and then refused a tip).

One more observation. The South Island is chock full of sheep, while the North Island seems to have more cows. We didn't count, and are still looking for some significance to this phenomena, but for now we'll just point it out. Tiffany loves both sheep and cows, and I'm fairly indifferent to both animals, so it didn't affect our stay here all that much.

Well, it's off to our gate and the 20 something hours ahead of us back to freezing Chicago. We're going to miss New Zealand... we wish we had 2 more months here.

Coming next: Final reflections and our Top Ten lists…

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