Day 91 Auckland to Tahiti

Well today was interesting since we got to experience it twice. The day started in Paihia, NZ where we loaded everybody in the van and headed off to Auckland to catch our flights. Chris and I flew to Papeete, Tahiti and the kids flew to Los Angles. Since we crossed the international date line we automatically gained one day. So we left NZ on the 23rd and also spent the 23rd in Tahiti.
It was the final day of our adventure in NZ with the kids. I think we all were saddened to see our time together come to an end. The trip was a huge success as everybody had a great time together and tried to soak up as much family camaraderie as possible.
Our second opportunity to spend the day in Tahiti allowed Chris and I to visit the beautiful island of Moorea which is a 30 minute ferry ride away. My advice to anyone heading this direction is to make Moorea your base of operations. The beaches are much better and cleaner and you just get a little farther away from the dirty city of Papeete. We had lunch and then a swim in the ocean. It was wonderful. Then back to the ferry to Papeete and our hotel for relaxing and dinner. We are looking forward to seeing Dick & Nancy Barrett tonight, who will be joining us for our cruise through the Marquises Islands on the ship Aranui 3.
Tomorrow the Aranui 3 and the final leg of our journey.

Chris - We weren't able to blog last night due to our flight. On our way back yesterday from Paihia to Auckland we stopped for lunch and last minute shopping in the cute town of Parnell, definitely worth a stop if you're ever around Auckland. It was really hard to say goodbye to the kids and to our terrific guide, William yesterday. William was EXTREMELY knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. He fit right in with the family and I'm sure it's a bond we'll carry with us. His only flaw was he gave us a 20 question quiz yesterday about New Zealand...and hard questions. He said he was going to, but I thought he was kidding...right up to the point he passed out paper and pens!! To no one's surprise, Patrick had the highest score and was awarded a stuffed kiwi for his efforts. It actually turned out to be fun. We will certainly miss William, although he and his wife hope to visit us in Montana sometime in the near future. I hope he gives me time to learn about all the flowers, trees, animals and mountains in Montana so I can do at least half the job he did. He wasn't even born in New Zealand, he's originally from England. As for the experience with the kids, it will be treasured forever. I always have trouble saying goodbye to them and yesterday was no different. I look forward to seeing them all in about 3 weeks, however. Today in Tahiti was fun, despite a light rain most of the day. We swam at in the ocean at the Sofitel Hotel in Moorea, which had white sand, palm trees and crystal clear water. The colorful fish swam around us as we enjoyed the very warm water. :) We may not have internet this next leg so we'll see what, if at all, we can blog. GOOD chance we can't and probably not the power to put up pictures....we'll see.