As we leave The City of Sails heading south this morning, we travel through the rich farmland of the Waikato region. We will stop for a short morning tea break in the historic township of Rangiriri, once the site of a Maori fortification. We continue on through the "Bridge City" of Hamilton as we meander through the rolling farmland hills of the Waikato. At Otorahanga we stop for a visit to the Otorahanga Kiwi House and Bird Sanctuary. Have the chance to see this elusive native New Zealand bird up close. Afterwards we head further south on to Waitomo, where we stop for lunch and a wonderful tour, at the world famous Waitomo Glow-Worm Caves. Begin your guided tour through the long galleries and lofty chambers to view stalactites formed over thousands of years by the constant dripping of water. Our tour continues with a boat ride through the glow-worm grotto that is illuminated by thousands of tiny lights emitted by glow-worms, suspended from the cave ceiling. We leave this spiritual place and continue on to Rotorua, following the Waikato River to the Karapiro Dam on Lake Karapiro. As we near Rotorua we enter the Fitzgerald Glade, a section of the highway where the native forest canopy grows right up over the road, forming an overhead tunnel. The journey finally takes you up over the Mamaku Saddle and descends into the city of Rotorua.