Visit to Kiwi-land

We had seen Mount Manganui in the distance when we first arrived in the area. Now we had a chance to climb it! With Louise and Ryan, we took our time climbing to the top, and enjoyed the lovely views on the way up.

View from Mount Manganui

On Tuesday morning, we collected a much improved Mike S from hospital, then set out for Hamilton. When Mike and Anna had lived in Hamilton, Mike had been the skipper of a riverboat, the "Waipa Delta". He had arranged for Wendy & Mike to have a lunchtime cruise on the boat.

The "Waipa Delta", on the Waikato River in Hamilton

We barely made it in time, as without our knowledge the departure time had been moved forward by 30 minutes! However, we had a lovely cruise, along a beautiful stretch of river. We also had an especially good meal, cooked on the plate by a hot rock!

*Factoid: New Zealand used to be very green and full of sheep. It is now less green, and there are many more cows. The rainfall has been decreasing, and cows need more water than sheep!