Friday, April 11, 2025

Today, we boarded a bus and headed south out of Auckland.  We got out of town rather quickly as we were going against the traffic.

About 90 minutes out of Auckland, we stopped at Hamilton Gardens.  What a lovely place!  It features 18 different gardens (Marty, you would have loved this place).  It reminded me of Butchart Gardens in Victoria.

We stopped for lunch in a little town called Tirau.  Jerrod only gave us 45 minutes to choose a place and eat.   Anyone who knows me knows that I am hard pressed to eat that fast.  So …..

We continued our drive with the next stop being the Redwoods Treewalk.  Since Rotorua is the same distance from the equator (south) as the California redwoods  (north), they were planted here in 1901 and have thrived.  We walked on 28 suspension bridges, high above the forest floor. 

Our room wasn’t quite ready when we arrived at the Novotel, so they offered us a glass of wine.  We were happy to accept as we  love Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region. 

Dinner was on our own in Rotorua, so Ivonne and I set off to find a place to eat.

We then moved onto an Italian restaurant for a salad and pizza.  Tastes of home!

Since we decided to go to Hobbiton tomorrow, my intention was to have a quiet evening in our room watching The Hobbit Movie.   But then we discovered live music in the hotel bar.  Plans quickly changed, and we had TOO MUCH FUN dancing the night away with a few of the other dancers in our group.  

When in Rotorua, CARPE MOMENTO!

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