Our plane landed an hour late and we were rushing to get out of Auckland and on to Waitomo before the sun went down, while driving on the left for the first time (Good times!). I called Ann at the first carpark outside Auckland and she said, "Is this David?" I had let them know we would be in later, but it was very reassuring to know that someone was waiting up for us on our first night there. We got there fine and arranged to have a late breakfast and discuss the itinerary for the next day.
At breakfast (which was probably the best during our entire trip), we decided on the Bird Sanctuary, the waterfall, the landbridge, and the Footwhistle Glowworm Tour that evening (highly recommend). Then, we got to meet the small animals. This was a unique experience. We got to hang out with the alpaca, llama, horse, emu, ostich, pig, Shetland cow, and Bitsy, their happy puppy. It was a lot of fun!
Ann was an amazing hostess and makes you feel like part of the family. We will miss you Ann! Thank you for helping us settle in on our first day in New Zealand.