Tuesday Visit – still in Auckland

On Tuesday, our plan was to visit Rainbow’s End and let the kids have fun riding all the amusements. Unfortunately, we found out that the park operates on a “schedule” which means that only certain rides are open at certain times. The problem compounded itself even more by the fact that we have young kids that couldn’t ride all the amusements and the Kids Castle was closed for repairs. We quickly switched into Plan B which was go to the Auckland Zoo. Bart was especially disappointed with having to go to the zoo vs. Rainbows End so I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. I offered him $1 USD for every “tasty” animals he could find at the zoo.4793

By the end of the day, he had picked up $5 USD and named: deer, chickens, fish, ostrich, and ducks. The Zoo however, is truly one of the best I’ve ever been at. It is set in a lush subtropical setting with platforms that allow you to look down on various animals. You see giraffs from about 20 feet ABOVE their heads! I’ll post pics later when I get a chance. After the zoo we headed back to the hotel for a dinner appointment with a local kiwi we met through my brother. As an ex-pat having lived almost everywhere in the world and a native US citizen, he gave us the rundown on what Kiwi living was all about. He provided a great deal of insight into life in New Zealand – I took about 10 pages worth of notes which I may post later. He and his lovely girlfriend were as warm, helpful and welcoming as most New Zealanders have been over the past few days we’ve met over the past few days. After dinner, we headed back up to our room to pack up and head out to our next destination: Rotorua / Lake Taupo.