31DEC2019 – DAY 18: THE FINALE

The morning came quick, but I was surprisingly well-rested considering all that happened yesterday! I packed my day bag for the last day of activities and walked around Paihia with 3 other members of the group who also went skydiving yesterday. We talked about our experiences, checked out a few local stores, and ended up getting calzones for an early lunch. The 4 of us tossed around a frisbee and kicked around a rugby ball for bit before heading over to the patio by the hotel rooms where everyone else was already starting to drink as New Year’s celebrations were being prepped. I taught a few of the tour members how to play Pitch, my favorite card game, though Uno was still the fan favorite (as expected). While everyone else was “relaxing” in anticipation of the night to come, I met one of the other group members down at the pier where we hopped on the boat that would take us out to go parasailing. While up in the air being towed by the boat below, I got a fantastic 360 degree view of the Bay Of Islands! The view was serene and the breeze was calm, unlike the cheek-rippling winds I experienced during skydiving! As my cable was pulled in, a brief wash of sadness came over me as I realized I had just finished my last activity and would inevitably have to return to my “normal” life back home… But that wouldn’t be for another few days, so after the boat docked back at the pier, I returned to the patio for drinks to pre-game with the rest of the group. I pulled out my bottle of Disaronno, downed 3 shots and shared the sweet liqueur with the group. The bottle dried up fast and I had the last couple sips just before we walked over to the club for a night of partying! Most of us immediately took to the dancefloor, ordered various cocktails, and partied into the night! Eventually the rest of the group joined us. A couple hours in, I ordered a plate of fries and scarfed those down before returning to the dancefloor with more drinks! At some point, I am pretty sure my cup was refilled on the dancefloor while I was holding it. I couldn’t really say how much I had this night, but the drink count was at least 14! Around 11:45pm, we all funneled out of the club and headed to the beach where we sat awaiting the fireworks spectacle. The display kicked off precisely at midnight and lasted for 15 minutes. The entire display was nothing short of incredible and I wouldn’t have expected anything else to close out such a wild and crazy trip to New Zealand. After the fireworks ended, we all walked back to the hotel where we continued the party until 2:30am. Wheels up to head back to Auckland was informed to be at 8:15am the next day so we had time a little more time than usual to sleep in.