From DREPS

Just had dinner and have to finish packing, but want to send one last report.

Today was another great weather day. Am sure it got into the mid-70s. We landed at Tauranga about 7:00 AM. We boarded the motor coach about 8:30 AM and headed for Rotorua. It is a “spa town” that was established at the turn of the century. It has a lot of thermal activity and traditional Maori culture.

We headed south from Tauranga and travelled through the world’s largest and richest kiwi fruit growing area of Te Puke. We stopped at Rainbow Springs, which was sort of a nature preserve where they had huge rainbow (and other) trout swimming in crystal clear spring-fed pools. We also saw NZ’s nocturnal bird, the kiwi—though all I could get a picture of was a “stuffed” one. There were also very rare Tuatara lizards. (I did see a live one, but it was too dark to photograph.)

Then we stopped at the Agrodome where we saw a very entertaining sheep show. All types of sheep were on display (live ones) and they were paraded on stage. There was a demonstration of sheering, and the emcee was very funny. There were also highly trained sheep dogs, who demonstrated their skill.

After the Agrodome, we had a very good buffet lunch at a hotel and following lunch there was a Maori concert that featured songs and dances. After lunch, we visited the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve, where you see several geysers and mud pools.

On the way back to the ship, the bus went by some very nice beach front homes. We returned to the ship about 5:30 PM, and the Mariner sailed for Auckland at 6:00 PM.

We should be off the ship by 10:00 AM tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be able to check into the Auckland Hilton in the morning. We’ll do Auckland tomorrow, and then rent a car the next day to drive up to Bay of Islands to stay at the Tio Bay Lodge for one night. We’ll return to Auckland the next day (Wednesday) for our evening flight back to the States. We arrive home late Wednesday night.