Bird sanctuary

Bird sanctuary

We wanted to do some hiking while in New Zealand and nearby Hamilton is a bird sanctuary which has many trails (or tracks as they call them).  This was built because there were many species of birds native to the country which were threatened by non native animals.  A group of people wanted to protect the birds and researched the best method possible.  what they built was incredible!  They enclosed a huge area with a fence which is meant to keep out even the smallest predator.  The mesh is very fine and even the streams have the fence in front to prevent water animals from entering.

The view of the land around the sanctuary.

On the trail.  It was shady and cool there.

So many kinds of trees.  I think this one is a silver fern.

Birds at a feeding station.

We climbed up a tower as high as some of the trees so we could see more birds.  We could hear a lot of birds as we hiked along, but could only see glimpses of a few.  Sorry, guys.  No kiwis!!

Video, really an audio of lots of bird songs.

Mud Pots

Mud pots

Rotorua is know for it's thermal mudpots.  We decided to skip the popular park with the geyser due to lack of time, but still wanted to see some of the mudpots and discovered there were some at the city park and they were free as well!

Many signs were posted.

Here is a lake in the middle of the park.  It was a beautiful park with a great playground, lots of trees and the infamous pots.

This was the first one we saw.  Kind of creepy looking.

And a short video of one in action.  Imagine the strong smell of rotten eggs and you will make the viewing experience more real!

Redwoods

Redwoods in New Zealanad

We had done some research about what to see in the area we were going to be in in New  Zealand and decided to combine a bunch of things into a few days.  We headed towards Rotorua and wanted to see the redwood trees and got a bit lost.  We ended up at Blue Lake which was really blue.

Then we figured out where we were and headed south of Rotorua to the trees.  They are not native to New Zealand.  Someone brought them there and planted a forest.

The restrooms looked like trunks of the trees!

A few of the trees

Really really big!

It was so cool and peaceful there.  We did a short hike and enjoyed the smell of the trees.

Mauri Village

Tamaki Cultural Village

After leaving Hobbiton we continued on our way to Rotorua where we had reservations for the Tamaki Cultural Village.  We were looking forward to learning more about the Maori culture.

We were divided into groups and got on buses where we had to choose a chief.  Luckily, the guy across from us was chosen.  We also learned some Maori words, greetings, and what the procedure would be as we arrived at the village.

Once there we entered the village we gathered in an area where a chief and some men entered the area by boat.  They danced and the chiefs from the buses came forward to meet the village chiefs.
One bus chief was chosen by the village chief.

We split into groups and learned about the different aspects of Maori life.

Here is the pit where our dinner was being cooked.  It is called a Hangi. 

And uncovered

Marc doing the Haka

Gayle doing the poi ball dance

Part of the show at the end before the meal was served.

Hobbiton

Hobbiton

On our way to Rotorua we decided to take a slight sidetrip to Hobbiton.  We had decided not to take the  tour but wanted to see if there was a visitor's center.  These hedges were along the side of the road.  Can you imagine trimming those?  There were many along the road, especially along the farms.

Here is some of the country as we were driving.  Absolutely gorgeous! All the land in that area looked like The Hobbit could have been filmed there.

This sign is for Dylan, Sam, and Charlie 

We arrived at the visitor center and had to take this picture!!  For all you Hobbit and Lord of the Rings lovers.

This road across the street from the visitor's center is where the tour is.  Lots of Hobbiton buses traveled that road.

More pictures of the area

Hamilton Gardens

Hamilton Gardens

We talked with our hosts and they encouraged us to go to Hamilton Gardens.  It was so cool to see all the different gardens from countries around the world.

This is an example of a Maori garden.  Kumara is planted in the area below.  Kumara is a tuber which kind of is a cross between a white potato and a sweet potato.  We actually tried some the next day and I really liked it, but Marc didn't.

Loved the details of this maze garden!

So many different gardens.

This is for Aaron and Kris.

Hamilton, NZ B&B

New Zealand

We decided that since we were so close to New Zealand we would do a quick trip during the break the university had around Easter.  We flew into Auckland and the next morning drove to Hamilton which is about an hour and a half south of Auckland.  We had booked a room at a bed & breakfast on a dairy farm about 8 mins away from the temple.  Here is the room we stayed in.  Our hostess even had fresh cut roses in the room.

This is the view from our room.

The countryside around Hamilton.

We ate dinner in the Lone Star restaurant in downtown Hamilton.  Really cute shops and restaurants across the street.

Salvation Army!