Spirit of the Antipodes Day 8
Today was an off-train activity day, and while we did spend some time on the rails, it wasn’t on a train, but more about that later. First, after we had breakfasted and packed our cases again, we piled onto our allocated coaches and set off at 09:00. Wallsy and I were in Coach B and assigned to visit the Redwoods Tree Walk this morning. Our driver took us via the scenic route, passing through the Government Gardens, a 50 acre manicured parkland on the edge of Lake Rotorua, gifted by local Maori iwi in the late 1800s. A recently refurbished tudor-style building, houses the Rotorua Museum. There is also a historic teahouse and band rotunda. It looked like a lovely place for a leisurely stroll, but we will have to come back to do that, as this morning we had a schedule to keep. Arriving 20 minutes early at the Redwoods Tree Walk we soaked up the atmosphere of the towering forest before entering the 700-metre-long canopy walkway featuring 28 swing bridges...