We were all up and packed before heading to breakfast
around 8 AM. Helga and the Treetops kitchen staff served breakfast to order;
seems that Eggs Benedict was a favorite but in my opinion the banana topped
French Toast with lots of bacon was pretty good.
Taco, our driver for the day arrived for our transport to Auckland. Our schedule was relatively flexible but we did have a long drive ahead of us.
First on the agenda was a drive to the
Waitomo Glowworm Caves to see the world famous glowworms (yes similar to the
glowworms of Treetops but a better setting and many more to see). The glowworm
caves are a commercial enterprise shared by the local Maori, local landowners
and the government. We were met by a Maori woman who described the local
geology that resulted in the caves and the life cycle of the glowworm, that
would be Arachnocampa Luminosa (spider-like, light-producing larva) for the bug
experts amongst us. For anyone that might wonder, yes we did break into a not
so harmonic round of the famous song “Glowworm”. Upon conclusion of the
scientific aspects of the visit we boarded a Disney like boat ride through a
short section of the cave where we saw thousands of the glowing buggers.
Next on our agenda was lunch; we
stopped at Roselands Restaurant at Waitomo where the guys had time for a brief lawn tennis match
before dining. For anyone keeping score, the “Other” team beat the
“Elkhartians” 1 set to nil.
We started lunch just in time to beat
the arrival of what seemed like 100+ school kids, high schoolers on holiday
from Malaysia, Japan or somewhere in the East. Lunch included a well assorted
salad bar, a buffet arrayed with breads and vegetables as well as fish, steak,
chicken or mussels from the grill.
Before we departed, Chris, having
visited the gift shop, found an “adorable” sheep to purchase and take home to
Scottsdale.
Onward we drove, heading north to Auckland. We stopped along the way for stretching and “rest”, if you know what I mean. Sometime around 4 PM we arrived into Auckland; finally we had found the big city. By now we were about done with driving, some had seen enough sheep and farmland and others didn’t want to bend their knees any longer. We checked in to The Pullman Hotel, had drinks and made dinner decisions. Sheila and I had room service while Pat, Jack Chris, Denny, Diane and Greg tramped the streets of Auckland in search of entertainment, sights and food. The group of six did "easy dining" down by the waterfront before proceeding back to the hotel for the night.
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