Our fifth port of call was Tauranga. Rick and I knew that this was the closest port to the Hamilton Temple and we wanted to get there. We were able to rent a car right close to the port and then we headed off for the hour and a half drive to Hamilton. It was a beautiful drive through the interior. On our way toward Hamilton we pulled off at a river (or so we thought) to get a closer look. It turns out it was Lake. I wish I had written down the name of it.
As soon as we got parked into the picnic area I could see some long canoes coming around the corner. It looked like some kind of race was going on. As they got closer I could see that they were women rowing teams on their long canoes. (I think thats what you would call them:) There were close to ten women in synchronized rowing with a leader at the back of the boat giving them commands. There were three different groups of them. It was an awesome sight to see them all working together gliding across the water.
It was a nice diversion from the drive plus their were restrooms there:)
Here I am with our car. It was a Nissan TIIDA. We've never driven one of those before. Being in NZ the steering wheel is on the right and you drive on the left.
For both of us it brought memories of our Uganda days. We could picture Francis Waila in the backseat talking and laughing with his wonderful East African accent:)
I got a little homesick for him.
The car rental lady mentioned that if we had time, to stop in a town called Cambridge which was not to far from Hamilton. We did and walked down the streets of this cute town. We stopped at a street side cafe and enjoyed breakfast together in the perfect weather. The town had some fun shops to peruse and beautiful flowers to admire:)
Not too much farther down the road our GPS brought us right to the......
It was really nice to be there. We enjoyed time in the visitors center talking with the missionaries (young and senior) and admiring the Christus. (It is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere)
We enjoyed our time in the temple doing initiatory work and then after taking a couple more pictures we got back in the car and started back to Tauranga. This was such an enjoyable day. We had our own car and could do whatever we wanted to. After being on the ship tours for the last week it felt good to have a little freedom.
We have decided that while cruising is nice (for the most part), we like the freedom of being in an area and having a car to explore around that area. While it was nice to see parts of New Zealand that we wouldn't have otherwise if we were on land etc.....fiordlands, and the Southern island but I think if I were to recommend a trip to New Zealand it would not be on a cruise. Just our feelings on it. There is much to be said about driving around an area to really SEE the area. Some places on our cruise we did not have enough time to really SEE the area. This could be changed with a land trip.
Ok, off my soapbox:)
Anyway, we loved the temple and our day in the Hamilton area.
Our last stop was Aukland. I woke up early and got a good view of the sun coming up as we pulled into the harbor.....
....as well as the Aukland skyline. It was beautiful.
Unfortunately, we did not get to see any more of Aukland! I would have loved to go to a Maori Culture show, or go to the glow worm caves to name just two. But as it was we were on a time restraint to get to the airport. Just as I said earlier, on a land trip we could have taken more time to see more of the city. It's ok though. We had a wonderful time seeing what we did see on our different stops.
New Zealand did not disappoint in its beauty and hospitality! What a beautiful land and people!
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