The last of our New Zealand adventure

The months of August through December were filled with a lot of sitting in front of a computer finishing my thesis, playing with Thomas, marking (for Mary-Ellen), and towards the end, the dismantling of our life in New Zealand. Despite the incredibly busy schedule we still managed to get a few day trips in here and there, most often to the zoo. It was fun to watch as the animals slowly spent more time outside and were more active as Spring turned to Summer. The tortoises moved outside again, and were a big hit with Thomas who watched them lumbering around their enclosure. The Kea's seemed to become increasingly cheeky and the lemurs spent more time in the front of their enclosure.

We also got to see some of the animals better than on any previous trips, such as the tigers which wandered down in front of their enclosures. The little blue penguins came out of their hiding places to swim in the water on a warm summer day.

For Thomas and I, the large aviary was particularly fun. We could go in there and not be disturbed by too many people as we peered through the bushes looking for the many birds that inhabit the enclosure. Towards the end we even got to see the saddlebacks feeding on fruit and the kakas searching for food in the underbrush.

In December we also got to see the opening of the Australian exhibit which was filled with large lizards, some very colourful parrots, and some enormous stick insects.

The zoo was definitely our favourite part of Auckland and a place where we got to expose our son to many of this world's wonderful creatures. We will certainly miss this place.

Mary-Ellen, also finally got me to Western Springs Park where the bird life continued to provide amusement for us and Thomas. Everywhere you can see pokekos and waterfowl such as the family of geese that attempted to join us on our picnic there.

We also enjoyed Monte Cecilia Park which was just behind our house. We took a great number of walks in that park and shared some great times with a lot of little dogs. One of the things Auckland and New Zealand in general do very well is the amount of green spaces in town.

Of course in November I finally handed in my thesis for examination. This was a huge weight of my shoulders, just in time to start the packing process for our return to the great white north.

We furiously packed, sold off our accumulated belongings, shipped our keepsakes home, and eventually ended up living on an air mattress in our living room with only a few utensils to cook with. We rented a car for the last days in New Zealand and on Christmas day, we attempted to have a final Kiwi Christmas. Unfortunately, as it has been the last few years, we were foiled by bad weather keeping us off the beach. Despite that, we explored Devonport, Thomas played with the pohutukawa flowers (the christmas tree), and we got one last good look at the city we have called home for the last three years.