Rotorua and Waitomo Glowworms
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| Huntly Power Station |
Our next trip out of Auckland was to our
furthest south destination in New Zealand, the City of Rotorua. It was a mixed bag of
weather, nothing like the previous day which had included a tornado that claimed two lives in north Auckland. The showers mostly happened while we were en route between adventures. On the way we passed the coal and natural gas fired power plant that supplies electricity to Auckland, and may fields filled with cows, which outnumber people in New Zealand 6 million to 5. They are down to just 30 million sheep from a peak of 60 million. We also drove by the Maori King's house. The King was created by the Maori to negotiate with the British crown over land rights.
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| Typical Pasture |
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| Maori King's Gate |
Our first stop was to visit the
Glowworm Caves, located in the Waitomo area, meaning “Water
entering a hole in the Ground”. Our tour guide escorted us through,
the Aranui Cave, a maze of limestone beauty where the dripping water
from the roof over the cave walls leaves deposits of crystalline calcium carbonate forming amazing stalactites from the ceiling and
stalagmites growing up from the ground. It has been estimated that it
takes a 100 years to from a 1 cubic inch of stalactite. We were also
told if the water drops on you, you are a lucky person. Frank had two
droplets and Linda had four, one down her back neck. Part of the
cave is an area referred to as the Cathedral. Because of its shape and
height, people gather there to sing. It doesn't echo, but gives harmony to
the voices, so good are the acoustics. As we journeyed deeper into the caves where it is
much darker, one started to see the Glowworms. It is the larval
stage of a winged insect that gives off the light. They have
around 30 extremely fine lines hanging down which catch the food that is attracted by their bioluminecent light. The insects display similar to
a star constellation. At our deepest penetration we boarded a
large flat-bottom boat to travel the waterway inside the cave. Pitch black,
the guide has series of cables to reach up and pull us along as we see the
stunning, breathtaking Glowworms!!! Sorry no pictures allowed. Flashes disturb the glowworms.
Leaving here we were onto our final
stop the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute where we had a performance
of the Poi dance, singing in harmony, the use of the haka and the
Tititorea, stick games. The performance was disrupted by another bus
group getting up to video and take pictures. They were requested to
go to the sides but just doing this interrupted the performance for
others. Our guide asked us how it was and we made the comment. They
are aware of the problem and are trying to resolve this issue.
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| Pohutu Geyser |
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Next we walked through a life size
replica of a traditional Maori Village. One of the units was up on
stilts, which stored the food goods. The height was to keep the
animals from getting into the food. We continued on through the
geothermal area of the hot bubbling mud pools and the famous Pohutu
Geyser. The final part was viewing Maori carvings and flax garment
weaving. They teach people these trades and then they take the skills
back to the tribes to pass on.
Back aboard our bus, a box lunch was
served as we continued on to our next stop, the Agrodome Complex, a
New Zealand farm. We boarded our covered wagon, bouncing along being
pulled by a tractor through pastures to see the animals
closeup. The different types of cows, farm raised red deer, alpacas,
Ostriches and sheep. When we arrived the sheep and lambs came
scurrying over as they knew what was going to happen. FOOD from the
visitors. We were given handfuls of kibble type food and were
targeted to get as much as possible. One of the alpacas helped itself
to a container left on the seat of the wagon. From there to a pigpen with 2
grownups and 3 piglets, all black, came for there turn at the food.
The guide was the only one to feed them as they aren't as careful in
what they munch on. The Ostriches were next. They quickly pecked the
food from your straight out hand.
The next stop was at a small corral
where Queen the dog gave us a “Sheep Dog” demonstration of her
skills with 5 sheep. Obeying whistle tones and voice commands, she
showed her skills. Afterwards we had a sheep sheering demonstration
with the guide managing to have the years wool accumulation come off in one big piece. We were then shown how the
fibre is combed, twisted into thread and then woven on huge machines.
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