We left Taupō later than we expected and got in late to Waitomo, the home of glow worm caves. If felt like we were in the middle of nowhere – by the time we got there it was dark, and the sky was littered with more stars than I’ve seen for a very long time. Awe-inspiring.

The next morning, we were up to take a tour of the glow worm caves. We weren’t able to take pictures, so you may have to google it, because it was truly otherworldly – in a boat with the gentle sounds of the river lapping the sides, and only blue-ish glowing worms lighting the ceiling and walls of the cave. They are a strange, strange organism.

We decided to finish our trip in the surfing town of Raglan on the west coast. It was dreamy and peaceful. The campsite was nestled between a grass airstrip, community soccer fields and the end of a peninsula with black sand beaches. It was stunning. We walked into town and found a fish and chip shop that was willing to fry up Tim’s rainbow trout from Taupō. That was an adventure in itself, but one I’ll have to save to describe another day.

After a beautiful evening and morning in Raglan, we turned the RV toward Auckland to start the long journey back to Guam. We fell in love with New Zealand…. The people are friendly, the food is amazing, and the landscape are incomparable. We’d like to make another trip to the South Island someday, because we’ve heard that it’s amazing too. But for now, we’re basking in the warmth of a fantastic trip.

We finally made it back a couple days ago, and we’re already right back into the thick of the life that we love so much here: Tim left for a work trip, we’re enjoying the sunset days of our homeschool journey, and it’s back to surfing and beautiful sunrises and laundry, and… all the mundane and beautiful things that make up our life.

We’ve got a busy summer ahead – meeting up with our nephew who will spend some time here while he works on his private pilot’s license, sailing camp, a Rubix cube competition in Hawaii, EthixQuest camp and a couple quick trips back to the states. The kids will finish their summer at a YMCA camp in the Rockies before dashing back to Guam for a new start in their new school. If we get a chance, we’ll post more here along the way, but in the meantime, happy travels to all of you!