if you like greenery.
Out of Kawhia early, about 9am. And something new on the road. A road killed kiwi. I had to go back and confirm, and got on the wrong side of the road while turning around. Fortunately, everyone could see me well in advance. It was, by far, my worst gaff of the trip as far as driving was concerned. Scared me a good one. Made a lasting impression. Here at home, a week afterwards, I’m still mixing up the turn signals and headlights on our RAV-4. From the kiwi incident on out, I was fine with the driving. About 2 weeks in.
It took a while to find a motel in Hamilton that fit all our needs. Close to restaurants, groceries, fuel, and a walking track nearby. Grosvenor Motor Inn was the got to choice. Run by Chinese, very nice and clean. However, check your room out before hand. They hadn’t placed and sealed the tub and shower in our room. Water everywhere, including underneath where the electrical for the spa tub lurked. Otherwise, a very nice place and within 15 minutes of almost all sites in Hamilton.
Lunchtime! I’d spotted a Korean restaurant about 4 blocks away. Time to try something I’ve been looking forward to for years. Bibimbap. Bobby Flay was required to make it during a Chopped (television show) championship episode. Looked good. He lost, by the way. He hadn’t heard of it, either. At least that was the impression I got.
I took a photo of the end result, but must have deleted that photo. The meal was excellent, I’m now hooked on another cuisine. I’ve never gone out of an Asian restaurant and not been overfed!
Next day, up and at ’em. Looking at the local attractions, there wasn’t much interesting. Finally, we chose the Hamilton Gardens, another one of those botanic gardens that are everywhere in Australia and New Zealand. It didn’t seem possible that the garden from Sydney could be topped. Wrong! It, like Milford Sound, is too amazing to truly be captured on film.
Best thing about the Hamilton Gardens is it is totally free. Of course they hope you will leave a donation. Be sure to do that. This place is worth it.
The Visitor’s Center is near the heart of the park, which is called the Enclosed Garden. These enclosed gardens are each themed, there are around 20 of them or so. More are being developed and will open over the course of the next few years. A smattering of what you can see…
3 hours later, we were on our way to Rogers Rose Garden. I was in flower heaven!
As I mentioned on Facebook, there were more roses here than you could shake a stick at. 20 acres or so. One of the nicest things about the park is the freedom to enjoy it. I’m sure there is a modest fee, but there were several groups of people that had tables set up. One group was a child’s birthday party. Another, an English looking tea party. Yet another group was having some sort of reception, perhaps a college graduation. They were set up under the trees, everything neat and orderly.
I could go back here.
We didn’t do too much else in Hamilton. We were getting a little jaded from the driving, so we caught up on some relaxing. We only had two more nights before we had to be in Auckland, so I had to pick one more destination. This “dart toss” had a winner, Waiuku.
This is a sleepy little town is at the southern tip of Waiuku Bay. It’s a destination for weekend trippers out of Auckland. There is a nice golf course, beach, and plenty of good restaurants. We stayed at the Waiuku Motor Lodge just outside of town. Very very nice room, one of the best on the trip. You need a car here, there are no tourist services nearby.
Turned out there was a popular-to-visit lighthouse on the north end of the peninsula cut off by Waiuku bay. Okay, off to check it out. It’s about an hour and a half drive, each way, across hills and valleys. Narrow roads and tiny towns. Very little traffic, only tourists going to and fro for the lighthouse.
A very treacherous channel for ships. The stairs lead to the original location of the lighthouse, it was moved in the 1980’s or so. Lots of radio antennas, these are for a watchman to contact any approaching ships. The sandbar shifts, very tricky. Our cruise ship came in on the west side. There is about a 2 mile strip of land that separates the east and west ports at Auckland.
Great view.
Next day, we were off to a motel near Auckland airport and the Go Rental car return. I am very happy to report that I never hit anything or came close to having any accidents other than that gaffe near Kawhia. One little tiny birdie and numerous insects were all the “damage” to the car. Better than Australia. I took a corella parrot of the windshield and hit a branch with the passenger side mirror. Neither were really my fault. The branch incident was caused by another driver nearly running me off the road.
I can’t say much interesting about our stay at the Ibis Budget Motel near Auckland. We rather lounged around there, and Praxy sprained her foot on the curb near the motel. The rooms are tiny, but adequate. There are several nearby restaurants, a large grocery store, and a dry goods store in the nearby mall. Also a kid’s tourist trap dinosaur park nearby called Butterfly Creek. They did have some of the nicest plush toy animals I’ve every seen for sale in their gift shop. Almost walked off with a beautiful little otter, but not enough room in our luggage for it. Dunno what I would have done with it other than add to the clutter in my mancave.
I walked over the airport and tried to do some plane spotting. No luck, there just isn’t any place for a person to get a good view of the runways. I walked about 5 miles to find this out. Oh well, I’d need the exercise to make up for the long flight back to the USA.
It’s only $5NZD per person to ride the yellow bus from the motel to either domestic or international terminals at the airport. A bargain. Includes luggage, but you have to wrestle it onboard.
I’m also happy to report that the return flights to the US went perfectly. Flights on time, economy plus seating, and an extra seat on the aisle. Didn’t help me, though. I didn’t sleep one little bit. A crying child kept me awake, and disturbed me the one time I started to drop off. Not the kid’s fault I can’t sleep on aircraft. 12 hours from Auckland to San Francisco.
That’s it. Done. Another trip in the books. This was about the most ambitious trip I’ve ever planned or done. Even topped the RV trip to Michoacan, Mexico to see the Monarch Butterflies. Next trip will likely be much simpler and less expensive. Either to Arizona or the Philippines. Gotta save some coin for…South America, or Africa, or Thailand…
12/31/2019 Home!
Visit places you may never get to see 