We have been lucky to have booked small group tours throughout our stay in New Zealand. What a difference to travel with 12 as opposed to 60 people. Our first stop was the Hundertwasser Toilets that were designed by an Austrian who had emigrated here. They are public toilets reminiscent of Gaudi’s Barcelona.
Next stop was the Kawiti Glowworm Caves, a Maori family farm that has been handed down through the generations for 400 years, from the time they were discovered by a Maori woman who ran away from her husband and spent 3 years hiding in the caves and feeding herself by stealing vegetables from local Maori farms. 
The chief of the local Maori tribe was a woman (unusual in itself) and it is her family who still own the caves. The caves are 200 million years old, but the stalactites and stalagmites continue to form. Gloworms (aracnocampa liminosa) are only found in New Zealand (84% of the population) and Western Australia (14%), so NZ is the only place we would have been able to see them. They are the luminescent larval stage of a fly that only lives for three days. The worms weave a clear web tube they attach to the ceiling of caves and from which they dangle threads that trap insects that are attracted to their light. We were not allowed to take pictures in the caves, but I found a link to a National Geographic short on them. Truly a spectacular sight.
Next we visited the Waimate Mission House, the first European farm in New Zealand, built in 1832. It was meant to be a model of farming practices. 
Charles Darwin spent Christmas there in 1835. Unfortunately, the land was not fertile enough for wheat and the farm failed as a result.
The mission church was built in 1830.
New Zealand’s oldest European building is in the town of Kerikeri. The house was built in 1821 and the Stone Store was built in 1836. The ships would row goods ashore here where they would be transported inland by ox cart.
From there, we visited Haruru Falls.
On our way back to the ship, we had a panoramic view of the Bay of Islands.
That evening we were treated to an amazing sunset. Tomorrow, we disembark in Auckland, but we will have two days there before flying to Hawaii.
