Day 19 - Final day in Auckland, on our way home...

Nineteen days after arriving in Sydney, we had reached the end of this incredible bucket-list vacation.  We checked out of our hotel just before lunch but had a few hours to kill before our transfer to the airport so we asked the hotel to once again hold our bags while we walked back down to Quay Street for a leisurely lunch, followed by a tour of the nearby New Zealand Maritime Museum.  At the appointed time we walked back to the hotel, claimed our bags, and boarded our transfer bus for the easy trip to the airport.  

The trip back was incredibly long, like always we were sooo glad to get back home to KCMO!   We're taking the summer off to recuperate, our next big trip is in the fall to thMediterranean, another two-week ocean cruise from Barcelona to Athens. Stand by for news!

Stock view of the New Zealand Maritime Museum. From the harbor side...

Lots of actual Maori canoes on exhibit... ... like this one.

Captain Cook's chart of New Zealand, remarkably accurate considering the tools he had available 

Lots of models documenting New Zealand's extensive commercial maritime history like this one... ... and this one.

Another major exhibit documenting immigration to New Zealand.  New Zealand aggressively advertised for and promoted immigration.  They still do... Even as late as the 1960s, immigrating to New Zealand was no small undertaking.

Yet another big exhibit on Team New Zealand's big America's Cup win in 1995. NZL-32 (aka "Black Magic") on display at the museum.

Photo of NZL-32 in action...