After a restless night we got up early and packed the car. Then we drove the short distance from the hostel to Opouterre Beach. Julie had already gone at 5am, so she waited while Erik and I took the estuary trail. Unfortunately two nesting birds blocked our path, and while I wanted to go another way to see the beach, Erik turned back to the car. I got to see the beach, but then I got lost on the way back and ended up running until I found the car park. The others weren't pleased with me for being late.
We had a long drive to Taupo, and stopped in Rotorua for lunch at Fat Dog Cafe, which was meh. My "vege burger" was a ten inch stack of vegetables between two halves of a bun. Since there was no way to eat it, I had to dismantle it and eat the vegetables with some salt sprinkled on top.
Once we finally got to Taupo, Julie and I booked a boat trip to the Maori carvings only viewable from on the lake. Tickets in hand, we checked into our hotel (first non-hostel) and went up to DeBrett's hot spring spa for a little bit. The cruise was fantastic, and after a nasty windy, rainy day it really cleared up. After the cruise we met up with Erik at Burgerfuel for dinner, and came back to relax at the hotel.
Julie and I watched the sunset from the beach across the street and as we got up to leave, my wedding ring slipped off. We spent a panicked ten minutes searching the sand, and when Julie went to grab a flashlight, I found it. Phew! We're driving down to Wellington tomorrow, to see the giant squid at Te Papa and find a way to celebrate the new year.