Today we had a picnic at the Japanese Memorial Gardens. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom but all little e was interested in was finding the chickens.

It may seem strange that there is a Japanese Memorial in rural New Zealand. It turns out that this area has a checkered past. The garden is stunning at the moment, in a very peaceful way.

Climate wise, it is a fantastic place for real cherries too. Each tree was humming with some very busy bees. A friend of mine has a commercial cherry orchard about 1 km from here.

We stop here regularly, not for the cherries but because there are 4 tame hens lurking around, waiting for bread. Little e knows this, so she was off to find them the first chance she had.