Finally.... a computer, some change and some time left to update this blog one last time for this trip. Sorry about the long pause.
Indeed, it is the end of our trip already. We're flying out of Auckland tomorrow night and get back to Nashville on Monday, so the plan.
Lots has happened after the last update. We pretty much travelled all through the North Island. From Picton on the South Island, we went on an early and chilly, but beautiful ferry ride to Wellington, which was nice, yet slightly disappointing for us after other travellers and the Lonely Planet had raved about it so much. From there we drove on to Tongrariro National Park - Peter Jackson used it as the setting for Mordor. Hard to find words to describe that place. It's "just" stunning. The whole area around the central North Island is, actually. Close by is Lake Taupo, NZ's biggest lake and, again, an immensely beautiful place. It's full of trout, has natural hot springs on the shore and is backed by the snow-covered volcanoes of Tongariro. Our stay in Taupo also put us into pizza-nirvana - it's home of the best pizza in NZ and the third best in the world, according to those who know. And, boy, was it ever a treat! YUMMY. Nearby Rotorua, thanks to its hot springs the most touristy place in NZ, was a disappointment, really. We were there on a Sunday morning, sure, but still... On we went quickly to the amazing (!!!) beaches and NZ's kiwi center at the Bay of Plenty and Mount Manganui in the East of the Island and further to the Coromandel Peninsula with its lush forests, rough shoreline and great hikes. After all that nature we spent a night in Auckland and went further to the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland. Now we're back in Auckland, actually enjoying NZ's biggest city (which most other people had talked down, so that we were pleasantly surprised). Tomorrow it's back home, which on the one hand we're excited about. On the other hand it'll be somewhat tough saying goodbye. New Zealand has left us lost for words with all its beauty more than once, that's for sure. Looking back, we are quite glad that we went during the southern hemisphere's winter (not that we had much of a choice, but still). I have to admit, we were somewhat scared of what to expect weather-wise in NZ when so many people asked us if we wanted to go skiing and if we had remembered to bring gloves, hats, scarves, etc.. Our experience was that, yes, there was plenty of snow and it did get chilly - BUT: we mostly had beautiful weather, around 12-17 degrees Celsius (60-70 degrees Fahrenheit?) and almost always sunshine or a few clouds and showers with sunshine following. As mentioned before, an added benefit of the winter was that we didn't have to reserve or book anything in advance, so that we were quite flexible and didn't have to share every sight with millions of other tourists :)
All in all it's been a great vacation to two fantastic countries and if at all possible, we shall be back. Until then: So long Southern Cross, New Zealand, Australia. We will miss you. Sniff, sniff.

At last, an attempt to summarize highlights and lowlights of this trip:

lowlights:
- Warrnambool and its Beachfront Backpackers
- Cairns
- Rotorua
- our departure from Sydney (Air New Zealand was being punky and has some work to do in terms of customer service and friendliness)
- Wellington's World Wide Backpacker - the people running it were just a bit too apathetic about their job.
-Matamata - Peter Jackson's Shire setting. It's a small town with nothing in it other than NZ's best cafe (recently voted as such) and the Shire, which, however, is on private property, doesn't really exist anymore, and can only be visited as part of a tour that costs you NZ$50. Please...

highlights:
- staying with our Australian hosts, Kev & Kath in Melbourne and Sarah, Chris & Co in Sydney
- The Great Barrier Reef
- The Great Ocean Road
- the Melbourne Botanical Gardens
- SYDNEY
- Our eco-friendly B&B in Christchurch: "English Park". Check it out and spread the word if you go!
- Hanmer Springs and its...well...hot springs when it's cold outside and one can watch the night sky with its mesmerizing Southern Cross.
- Picton and "The Villa" backpackers. A GREAT, clean and good-deal place!
- Abel Tasman National Park and kayaking along its shores.
- Tongariro and Taupo. Just all of it.
- Mount Maunganui's beach. Endless stretch of world-class sand and crystal-clear water. Sigh.
- Cathedral Cove on Coromandel.
- The biggest and oldest kauri tree in Waipoui Forest (North Island, west coast)
- Auckland and the Bamber House backpackers (apart from its notoriously dirty kitchen)

That's what stands out in our minds at the moment. We may add or subtract once we're back home ;-)

Pictures will follow in the next few days to give you a better impression of all of this (give us a day or two to sleep off the jetlag).