2013 New Zealand North Island Trip- Sleepy, breezy and cozy!

Lance and I traveled to Wellington, New Zealand to visit Lance's brother and tag along a road trip on North Island for 8 days. Our primary mission is to spend time with families and mainly 3 year old Ayden. Sighting and surfing lay rest. Unlike the adventurous solo backpacking trips I took before, the trip is indeed a family vacation and turned out a sleepy, breezy and easy good time, suiting the current state of my mind perfectly. Sleepy- thanks to the Antihistamines I took against Hey Fever, I had felt chilled and slightly sleepy through out the trip. I absolutely enjoyed the moments of relaxation. Breezy- we drove through beaches by beaches along the coast on North Island. It was the best weather and time of the year. Cozy- families and nice and warm locals made the journey cozy. Ayden is a joy and sunshine. The people we met and the places we visited are so laid back. It's a peaceful land.
We spent the first 4 days at Wellington. Besides spending time with Ayden and Lyka, we visited a few beaches- Plimmerton, Paraparaumu, Kapiti and Otaki and took a hike at Tararua Forest Park. The beaches are literally just natural and low key beaches without any human touch up. Tararua is a massive and impressive forest terrain and we only got to take a peek of it through an one-hour hike. Wellington is supposedly second biggest city and capital of New Zealand. It's a very mellow city.
We took a 8-day road trip and drove through about one quarter of North Island. We enroute stopped at Palmerston North, Napier, Gisborne, Whakatane, Rotorua and Taupo. Napier and Gisborne are beautiful and laid back beach towns, where we swam, hung out on the beaches and played at parks. Whakatane has an interesting Mario female heroine statute. Lance checked off one more spot on  his global surfing map at Ohope Beach. Rotorua is a stinky city thanks to the sulfuric acid. Interestingly it's also the entertainment capital in New Zealand. We did Luge and checked out stinky geysers around the city. Taupo is no doubt a gorgeous city on the lake shore. We enjoyed the water resort in the hotel and unfortunately we didn't make to staying second night at the lovely city. Along the way, Lance's brother Andrew successfully discovered a bunch of Geo caches.
I let myself immerse in the low-key beauty and peace of the country. I probably have no major stories to tell as I always like to do coming back from a trip. There are definitely a lot of little lovely and refreshing moments that can only be experienced in a county of authentic beauty and peace.