It was another chill day with little preplanned. We all enjoyed a lie-in after the late night, followed by a chill day.
The slow start allowed me to catch up on this blog, especially the dive photos and associated post. We had decided to enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet at the top of the gondola as our final night “treat” so chose to have a brunch. Bailey once again chose a fine local joint which worked very well.
Next up was putt-putt with rabbits! Yup – a minigolf with several rabbits roaming. It was crowded as the weather was fine and the rabbits were docile which made it fun. One rabbit ran across a hole which livened things up. In the end, I was close to Samuel but blew the final hole, and Bailey finished a close second to Samuel.
Next was Zorbing, or rolling down a hill in a big double ball like a hamster. Like Bungy, this was another Samuel-only activity but it was fun to watch and we strapped the GoPro on Samuel’s wrist which captured some fun footage.
We had time for some bubble tea which took us to the lake so it was fun to see a different part of town, followed by some souvenir shopping.
Our dinner reservation was for 6:30 and we got to the top of the gondola a bit after 6 to look around. It was all a lot more crowded than the one at Queenstown, as was Rotorua itself compared to Queenstown in general This reflects the population density on the North vs South Island. We took our table at 6:30 and were treated to many fine dishes, complemented by great views. For most parts of the meal, we were pleasantly surprised that the food was better than our expectations, from the bread to the prime rib to the tiramisu, and lots in between. The challenge was taking small enough portions so you could try everything!
After the food, most of us felt we were moving into a food coma, but Bailey was still eager to take photos with the “golden hour” of light.
Soon, we were on our way down in the gondola, not tempted to hike this time, and back at our hotel packing up for our departure tomorrow.
This page is part of our New Zealand trip set of posts
The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 
One thought on “NZ Day 12: The Finale”