New Zealand is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, about 1,500 miles southeast of Australia, and about 8,400 miles from Greensboro. The country consists of two main islands, called the North Island and the South Island. The combined area of all the islands is about 104,500 square miles. This area is similar to the size of Colorado, Japan or the British Isles, and about twice the area of North Carolina (48,700), Georgia (57, 900) or Washington (66,500). To get an idea of distances, the straight line distance from Auckland to the Bay of Islands is about 110 miles. The North and South Islands are separated by the Cook Strait, which at its narrowest point is 12.5 miles wide. We lost one day because United Airlines cancelled the first leg of our flight (Greensboro to Chicago) about 1 hour before its scheduled departure time. Due to the short time we were there, we did not go to the South Island. The album is divided into five parts. In Part 1 we have photos of Auckland, the Kauri museum in Matakohe, Omapere and the hotel where we stayed, and the Kauri Forest. In Part 2, we saw the Bay of Islands from a tour boat we took through them. In Parts 3 and 4, we traveled south of Auckland to the middle of the wide part of North Island where the Waitomo caves are located. Only a two-hour drive from the caves is an area where thermal activity is in abundance.

Part 1: Auckland and the Kauri Forest
Part 2: The Bay of Islands
Part 3: Rotorua and the Thermal areas
Part 4: The Waitomo Caves
Part 5: The University of Auckland