The many roses of the Klamath Falls Rose Garden, named for Rotorua's Sister City in Oregon, U.S.A., were beginning to bloom, so we took a nice walk along Lake Road, down Oruawhata Drive (where we had our picnic), and near the Whakamaratanga Hoia O Te Arawa, the Solder's Memorial of the Arawa Tribe.
Wisteria decorating the pergola at the center of the Klamath Falls Rose Garden
The day finally came for our Fairy Springs Ward picnic. The weather was absolutely perfect. We set up chairs and tables under a spreading oak tree. Eddie Barber brought his barbecue for sausage sizzles, fat mild sausage wrapped in bread and eaten with grilled onions, mustard and tomato sauce (ketchup). A favorite of Kiwis.
The sisters brought picnic blankets. We had not only sausage sizzles, but sloppy joes, potato salad, and lots of sandwiches and cakes
Elder Cowell and Elder Shepherd, a Samoan from Brisbane who replaces our Elder Jones, are setting up the Marshmallow Toss game
Bro. Smith, a member of the bishopric, was a good sport and had lots of marshmallows tossed at him
A lot of the marshmallows actually made it in
After several games and relays, the day ended with a sack race
Sis. Cleverley gunny-sacking with her usual joie de vivre
I noticed a lot of New Zealand Flax plants growing beside the stream over the bridge near our spreading oak tree. I brought my secateurs (pruning shears) and a big plastic garbage bag and cut a bunch of flax. The plants were up to ten feet tall and the leaves in good condition. This basket is coming out way better than my first one. This is a kete whakairo, patterned weave, with the top section of strips split for a closer weave.
Our little six pack of cherry tomatoes have grown into plants taller than I am.
We occasionally see bumble bees, but Elder Rook's electric toothbrush (and the regular windy days) seem to be working for pollinating the tomatoes
After visiting Wiki, who is undergoing some demanding physical therapy in the hospital, we decided to walk to the Klamath Falls Rose Garden. We went along Lake Road, where the black swans were foraging in the lawn
Mokoia Island under cloudy skies
We found where the Utuhina Stream runs into Lake Rotorua
The Rose Garden is part of the Government Gardens complex, and very popular with visitors
Gorgeous peach-colored blossoms. To my disappointment, the flowers were not all marked, and the labels we saw were not anything I recognized
In front of the gardens is this memorial to 35 Te Arawa warriors who fought and died in the first World War. The statue is of King George V, wearing coronation robes. Today he is also wearing a red-billed New Zealand gull on his head
Twelve wooden tekoteko surround the memorial. Rangitihi, an influential chief of the Te Arawa, is represented.
A Krupp field gun signed by Kaiser Wilhelm, captured by the Maori Pioneer Battalion in Quesnoy, France, is on display
Elder Rooks admiring the flowers
Under the pergola
Two Australian magpies vying over a snack someone threw from their car window
On the way back home, I managed to drag Elder Rooks into Patrick's Boutqiue Bakery on Lake Road and made off with a couple of Florentines. I have tried to recreate these with some success. Elder Rooks liked them, anyway
We saw a pair of Pukeko parents with their chicks, which seem to be surviving all the tourists
