Zorbing and Dolphins

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We’ve been back in Edgecumbe since the 20th and have done some more of the touristy things around here. On the 23rd we went to Tarawera Fall and Tarawera Lake. It was a long dusty drive down gravel logging trucks to get to both the falls and the lake, but it was worth it. The falls come out of rock instead of over it; this is a result of a lava channel the water follows. The channel was formed from Mt. Tarawera explosion.

On the 23rd we were supposed to going swimming with the dolphins, but the water was too rough to go out. Instead we drove to Rotorua to go zorbing. For those of you who don’t know what zorbing is, you pay money to roll down a hill inside a big plastic ball. Sounds like something the kiwis would invent! We did the wash machine ride, which means they add some water inside the ball! It was so much fun! Your supposed to run to get the ball moving, well I made it 2 steps, fell down and took Dave out with me! We then slipped and slid the whole way down the hill. Surprisingly enough though we didn’t get completely soaked. After the zorbing we went to the Caterpillar Museum, which is you guessed a museum dedicated to different models of Cats. Let me tell you it was all kinds of excitement for me (Kendra). It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be though since the Cats were all set up like they were actually doing work. The displays showed how the different machines were used to clear most of the land in New Zealand for farming and roads. On the way home to Edgecumbe we stopped at a hot spring that only the locals know about. Not sure how hot the water actually got but there were areas where it was too hot to stand in and there were spots were the water was bubbling it was so hot. It was basically like sitting in a huge bathtub!

Today we tried our dolphin tour and this time it was successful. We headed out around 9:30am and were about 12km offshore when we found the first pod of dolphins. These were the male dolphins that were out looking for food, and these were the ones we got to swim with. The rules for swimming with them is get in the water as quietly and quickly as possible and head straight for the dolphins and keep your head down. Seems simple enough but when you add the fact that dolphins can swim up to 44mph, it adds a whole other level to swim quickly!! Both Dave and I saw 3 dolphins swimming below us and then they just took off and left us behind! We had lots of chances to see them from the boat since they were playing in the waves being made by the boat and using the motion of the boat to push them along. Saw them jump, and got splashed by one when he came up to breath! Know I can say I got splashed by a dolphin! On the way back in we basically just ran into the nursery pod, which consists of the mothers and babies. We saw 2 babies that were about 1m long. They were so cute; they stuck right beside their moms and had no problem keeping up with them. All in all it was a really good trip and would do it again tomorrow if I could!

Tomorrow we are on the road again heading to Palmerston North for 1 night and then to Wellington to stay with Logan and Chloe (Dave’s friends). On Monday we get on the ferry and cross to the South Island.

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Photos

Zorbing
Its not actually us in the zorb but you get the idea!

Dolphins
These are 3 male Common Dolphins catching a free ride from the boat!

D7 Working
Display of the Cat clearing land.

Hot Stream
You can see the bubbles on the surface of the water.