Our Last Day in New Zealand

    We left Waipu knowing we would return on our next trip—perhaps for Waipu's Highland Games on some New Year's Day? We drove straight through to Manukau, a suburb south of Auckland where the airport is located. In the late afternoon we walked through the regional botanical gardens near where we camped for the night. We repacked everything for the return trip the next day.
   
    Our flight was in the early afternoon so we drove to the Maui return facility to drop off the campervan, get our $5000 deposit return, and pay the diesel tax required of everyone who drives a diesel. (I don't completely understand why the tax isn't added at the pump as the tax on gasoline is.) Diesel is about half the price of gas in New Zealand and we were told to expect to pay a per kilometer government diesel tax to Maui. However, the folks at Maui remembered the "troubles" we experienced with their vehicles and not only refunded the cost of the motel room in Napier and covered most of diesel tax (since our mileage with three vehicles would be nearly impossible to calculate), but they also gave us some monetary compensation for the discomfort we experienced because of the defective vehicles! Would that have happened here?

    We did a bit more shopping at the airport, read, and snacked until our return flight. Most of the trip to Denver, through Tahiti and Los Angeles is a long blur. And while it was good to get home, see the dogs, the house, and everything familiar, we knew we had had an outstanding trip and that New Zealand is home of the nicest people, incredible scenery, weather extremes, and more trails to hike.