Greetings from Hamilton!

My trip here went without a hitch, but I'm inland, and its very hot and humid!  There are trains in New Zealand, but I think they run infrequently, so people get around by long distance busses if they don't have a car.   Since my stop was the end of the line, I didn't really mind taking one today.
New Zealand busses have classes!  If you want a fancier seat in the front of the bus it will cost you more, but the ordinary seats are nice enough.  It's just that the air conditioning was cranked up, so I had to wear my sweater.
The trip took a couple hours and took us through some lovely, green countryside.  New Zealand was formed by volcanos, so all of it is hilly.  Along some stretches of of the road the vegetation was definitely native plants.  There were trees and giant ferns the likes of which I'd not seen before.   Shades ranged from nearly black to the lightest yellow green and everything in between. Other bits of the countryside looked more European.
We passed a lot of farms with goats and cattle.  I saw lots of calves, but no sheep at all.  We crossed rivers and passed some lakes.
We pulled up to the Hamilton Bus Station. I gotten directions to my motel from google, but at first I could not find anything resembling the directions.  I guessed and started walking.  Good guess.  I soon came upon the proper streets.  The only issue was the roundabouts.  One must be very careful crossing because the cars are not stopping for pedestrians, they are stopping for on coming cars.
I got directions to a grocery store.  It was huge!  But I ran into a lovely woman giving out samples of wine, and we got into a conversation.  The people of New Zealand are most kind to foreigners and want to make sure our experiences are positive.  She offered me as many samples of wine as I wanted.  Ha!  No.  I needed to make it back here, but since her offerings were on special, I bought a couple of bots.  Right now I am sipping some of the famous Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and very nice it is, too.  I feel less wilted.
Pil, I've heard of Auckland and Wellington, but not this place.  What are you doing there?
Two reasons.  One, I did not fancy the super long bus ride to Wellington in one go, but more importantly one can get to Hobbiton (the photo is from there) from Hamilton, and I have reservations for tomorrow!