December 31, 2024
Yin Yang Flower House Fun!
The owner of the Yin Yang Flower House is ex pat Dave from Maryland & Florida and he does a little of everything - since he does some personal training he built a very Fred Flintstone Gym in his yard. The house is actually set up as 3 separate units and the upstairs unit is the largest - so we ate and hung out on their porch. There was a wash and dryer also set up in the yard along with several gardens. Sadly I didn't take a lot of photos. My bedroom had a very unique circular bed! We got woken each morning by these birds that would sit on security screens on windows and proceed to peck at the glass from first light for a good hour! Fun Times!
Quaint Beach Town of Puerto Lopez. Saturday Morning before leaving we had breakfast at beach and went on tidal flat rocks.
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On way pack to Ship in Port of Guayaquil we stopped at a few other beach towns gearing up for New Years Celebrations.
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We had a beautiful sunny day to explore Wellington ! Was a very nice change from the stormy, big swells weather we have had the last two days! Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and the CBD is nice and big with lots of shops and museums. We didn't make it to the LOTR studios due to the time crunch but we took the cable car up to the top, for a scenic overlook of the port and then leisurley walk down through the Botantical Gardens, parks and historical cemetary.
Rotorua became a bonus city for us. Our Port stay in Tauranga got cut down to one day, due to NZ biosecurity regulations and since we really wanted to do Hobbiton, we decided to get off the ship and stay in hotels and get back on the ship, in a few days. Due to a variety of factors, the Ship ended up doing a quick pick up of us in Tauranga, three days later. The Kiwi's we encountered along the way, who helped with all our last minute details, were amazingly kind, hospitable and generous. Below is our tired, chilly group huddled at the security shed, outside the Port in the wee hours (1:30 am) Monday morning, awaiting our final hurdle of getting back on our Home. Home sweet home! What an adventure!
Rotorua, New Zealand is known for it's geothermal activity ( geysers, mud pools, hot springs) and rich Maori culture . I saw lots of that last time I was here in 2016, so this time I wanted to see their Redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. John and Colleen joined me in exploring. Their redwoods are smaller than the ones in Muir Woods California, but still impressive. Both are planted forest dating back to around 1908.