More sunshine! Quick, take a photo before it goes away!!

Matt enjoys one of our 5 sunny days in New Zealand.

We headed back south to Auckland, but stopped en route at the most photographed toilet in New Zealand: The Hundertwasser Toilets. These toilets, in the town of Kawikawi, were designed by the famous Austrian artist who moved to New Zealand for several decades.

The weird entrance to the toilets.

The sinks...

...and the toilets...

...and best of all, a concrete "couch" to lie on outside, while one waits for a vacant toilet stall. :)

For our final stop on our trip, we had 2 nights in Auckland. We checked into City Garden Lodge, the former royal residence for the Queen of Tonga. Seriously.

But like much of our luck on this trip, there was a mixup with our reservation. Instead of the snug, wood paneled room with high ceilings, we got shunted to the renovated garden shed. In the garden.

Our garden shed-cum-room at the City Garden Lodge.

Chilling on Lodge's patio...drinking NZ wine and playing with Matt's camera phone.

Oooh! Special effects!

Matt cooks up a dinner fit for a Tongan queen in the Lodge's kitchen.

For our final day, we took a walking tour of Auckland. This was our 5th sunny day (out of 16), enjoyed at Auckland's waterfront.

Auckland's lovely Domain Park.

The Clock Tower at Auckland University.

Auckland's Art Deco Civic Theater.

The detailing on this theater is actually quite impressive, especially since the majority of Auckland is so nondescript.

The Auckland Museum.

The view from the Auckland Museum's steps, overlooking the city.