Walking in Waikato

Our day at Hillside resort commenced with a large breakfast, again served in the top lounge with morning views. Our hostess was most helpful with bird books and vegetation list and we headed out along the ridge which we looked out at from our room. It promised to be a wet day, but we were prepared and it held off while we followed the fenceline with pasture to one side, nice native vegetation on the other and views all around. We had smoko while out there but returned in time for late morning tea and some lunch before heading out again, on the advice of our hostess, along the southern fenceline which undulated along another ridge and provided more views. It was a most enjoyable walk, with the rain only arriving as we ascended the last couple of kilometres on the farm track. Back at our room we settled into books, with views and afternoon tea, followed by smoko then dinner in the lower dining room as there were now three other guests that we could determine. It was a relief that El Cheapo did not stand out among more fancy vehicles in the car park, but then, perhaps they had turned away?
NZ TV being what it is, the hotel has a large collection of DVDs so, on the advice of our hostess, we settled into some kiwi culture with a movie about Samoans in South Auckland, followed by Martin Clune in a movie, The Man that lost his Head, about Maori culture.