Our flight to Auckland was not until 2:20 PM so we had the morning to do a little more exploring in Napier. Scott and Jess went to buy coffee and we took time to walk the beach one last time. Packed up, we decided to visit the National Aquarium of New Zealand, which is located here in Napier, before going to the airport. It is not large but it is well done. They have a great exhibit of injured/abandoned Little (also called Blue) penguins who only live in New Zealand and parts of Australia, and an exhibit of live kiwis. Kiwis are only active at night so the exhibit is darkened. As a result people can see them actively searching for food. This species of kiwis are about the size of chickens. My attempt to take a picture proved futile because of the lighting conditions. We even got to see bones of the now extinct 500 pound Moa bird that once inhabited the island. They were obviously a tasty bird as they were hunted to extinction centuries ago.

The flight to Auckland is about an hour and we arrived to sunny conditions we have had all weekend. On the way home Scott took us to see his workplace at Z-Energy where he is Chief Innovation Officer. We were proud to see what he has accomplished in assembling a team and creating a “Refinery” workspace in the year he has been with the company.

We were reunited with grandson, Isaiah, and we all walked down to the nearby waterfront for a celebration at a local Mexican restaurant where we sat outdoors and enjoyed the early autumn evening in Auckland.