New Zealand, Part 3: Garden Party

We set off from Matamata for a drive through the country. We bought my mom some yarn from a sheep farm just off the road. The woman we bought yarn from might have been the oldest person I'd ever met. She was spinning wool, chatted with us about her sheep, and pointed out which bird calls were kiwis. 

Anybody feel like starting a sheep farm with me?

Happy sheepies.

We stopped in Hamilton to see the pretty gardens there. This huge public park managed by the city. It was both beautiful and free (a good combo).

 

This garden was supposed to look like a magic carpet. So pretty.  

Since I had been in the snow only a few days earlier, 

these gardens were an extra special kind of paradise. 

We drove on to the little town of Waitomo, which has 42 permanent residents throughout the year, but does a booming tourism business. This was our first night camping. I've done some camping in my life, but never next to a citrus tree surrounded by this kind of green. Camping in New Zealand is something between US National Parks and motor lodges, in that they are beautiful places...equipped with showers and electricity. It worked very well for us. I do like to shower, you know.

The local man who checked us into our campsite, convinced us to sign up for a tour of the caves by showing us pictures, like these:

Those caves were the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I'll pick up there in my next post. 

Sometimes, I think this blog series may have been a bad idea. When can we go back?