Relaxing on the Farm

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When we got to our hotel this morning it wasn't even 7am here yet. I had requested an early check-in, but knew that a 6:30am check-in would be pushing it. The very nice desk clerk recommended a local bakery for breakfast and said our room would be ready at 11am. Perfectly okay with us as 11am was more than fair. So, we had breakfast (delicious!), plotted our location on Google Maps, and found a regional park to explore this morning. We are huge fans of any kind of park - city, state, regional, national - anything that gets us out and about and seeing the "real" place we are in, not the tourist traps. What we found at this park totally surprised us - it was also a working farm! I love farms and animals and was thrilled to find that here you are allowed to go through the gates and into the paddocks and pastures with the animals without a guide. We were there really early, so it was feeding time, and so much fun to see all the animals out and about. Apparently the Auckland Regional Parks are trying to bring back the original heritage of the area by having farms in these parks. And, the sale of the livestock and their products help offset the cost of running the parks while also providing free mowing services in the form of grazing goats, sheep, cattle, and horses. I love it! Lucky for us, the park also sits on the water (not too surprising since Auckland is surrounded by water) and we were able to walk a coastal trail, soaking up the warm sun and breathing in the fresh, salty air. It. Was. Wonderful! We found a shelter along the trail and took advantage of an opportunity to rest, too. We were both so tired. We both napped on a bench for a while and then I moved into a warm, sunny patch on the grass. A great start to this three week adventure. I'm already in love!

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