Otorohanga Kiwi House & Native Bird Park

Next, I headed north to the Otorohanga Kiwi House & Native Bird Park. I just missed the kiwi feeding. The kiwi are nocturnal so they have a few kiwi houses where you can go view them in the dark. No photos though... in the dark. They are very strange looking (as you probably know) and their mannerisms are odd too. The park contains a bunch of native birds and reptiles, like a miniature zoo.






It was raining on and off all that day. I continued northwards, looking for some relaxation on the Coromandel coast. I headed for Hamilton, which proved to be a largish city, hard to escape. I do not really understand Kiwi road design. They will take a highway, force it right through a city (rather than around it), add several roundabouts (in an attempt to kill tourists, no doubt) and then... have two or more highways intersect at a single roundabout. I am proud to say, I navigated that and escaped Hamilton. I continued on the bigger road (Highway 1) to Rangiri, stopping only to take this photo:



As it was beginning to get dark, I wanted to find accommodation, but when I turned towards the coast, suddenly there was nothing, no lights, no cars, no sheep, nothing. It was only 6 pm but it was dark and I was tired and the road was windy. When I got to Kopu, I just stopped at the the first hotel I could find. I managed to get some dinner in a café and get some sleep.