True to form for most of our trip we did a lot of family friendly activities. One evening we went to a great little park up the road from our B&B. The short walk was filled with gorgeous scenery. There were huge redwoods and a crystal clear spring. It was very picturesque.

Another evening we went to Paradise Valley Wildlife Reserve. Again, the landscapes were so pretty. Eden got to pat a lion cub, which was huge. Then we walked around and petted animals. They had a river running through the property that had plenty of huge rainbow and brown trout. It made me want to order trout the next time we went out for dinner. But apparently they only allow private fishing, so no trout on the menus. There was a spring on the property that was safe to drink from so I lowered Eden down to take a sip. She slipped and got a faceful. It was pretty funny. She is a good sport and was ready to try it again.

We went to the Agrodome to finish up our time in Rotorua. They had a fantastic sheep show. There were something like 19 breeds they showed. They also did a sheep dog demonstration, sheep sheering, baby lamb feeding, cow milking. Eden got a chance to milk the cow, and she ran off after touching it. It was good fun. We went on a tour of their farm and saw kiwi vines, had some of their undoctored honey and once again petted more and more animals.

On our drive up to Auckland we stopped in Waitomo and did a glowworm cave tour. Caves are always something special. Those glorworms are like little lights all over, with sticky translucent threads hanging down. The guide said that when they metamorphose, they no longer have a mouth, so they only live a little while before they starve. Wow. At one point the guide was talking about the fantastic acoustics and asked if there were any singers. I whispered to Eden to sing and as she started everyone went quiet. We got a great little concert of Baa Baa Black Sheep. It was so nice to hear her little voice. My goodness, I love that girl!