We arrived in Auckland and got our car without any problems. The flight was long, but wasn't excrutiating since we flew over the night. This is something to remember when flying long flights - fly when you normally sleep. We landed around 5:30 and picked up our car and drove for a few hours to Lake Taupo which apparently is a lake sitting on top of a volcano. Driving in New Zealand is sweet; the roads are super curvy and there are huge hills everywhere.

The pictures above are from the river flowing out of the lake. It was amazing.