Day 18 - Tauranga and Rotorua (28 December 2012)

---

Kia ora - no not a request for an orange drink but hello in the Maori language.

Looked out of the porthole and saw rain. Typical as we have chosen to take a 9.5 hour tour from the port of Tauranga to Rotorua. Good news - we looked out our cabin door and the exit sign has been replaced!

We were on the bus at 8.45 am and off we went. I slept most of the way. Our first stop was Rainbow Springs. This is a nature reserve. There are four species of trout in NZ of which two were imported from tbe UK and one from the USA. The fourth species came from interbreeding. It is illegal for trout to be sold in restaurants. They can only be hunted. They are not captive in the reserve but as they are well fed they choose to stay put.

We were told the good news that no snakes live in NZ. The reserve is home to many plants and trees including sequoias. These may take over 100 years to mature in the US but in NZ they take as few as 40 because of the climate and the volcanic soil. However the wood is less dense & strong than American redwood.

We were shown the reptiles that live here - Tuatara lizards are living fossils around since 200 million years ago. Because of their slow metabolic physiology (eg 8 heartbeats per minute) they can go without a meal for up to six months (PG by me). But they take up to 9 months to release their fertilised eggs which can take a further 9 - 11 months to hatch. They can live for over 100 years and one youngster at 111 has just become a father for the first time.

Then onto the kiwi house. These shy birds are really quite small. Because they have two ovaries they can produce two eggs within a matter of days. The egg size in proportion to their bodies is like a woman having a 15 kilo baby!

Back on the coach and on to the Agrodome. Whilst there is a high degree of showmanship it was very educational. We were introduced to the various breeds of sheep raised here. Whoever thought sheep had no brains should see this show and see how they have been trained to obey some very simple tasks. Then we saw a sheep-shearing demo. Then the kids were given the job of milking a cow by hand. It was harder than it looks. The cow was extremely docile and just stood there chewing a bucket of food. Finally it was the turn of the sheepdogs to show us what they can do ending with a puppy (12 months old) rounding up geese.

Back on the bus for a tour around Rotoroa and lunch at the Holiday Inn. There was a buffet lunch provided. However, we brought our own with courtesy of Kosherica. Don and I dined like royalty on our peanut butter rolls! Unfortunately, due to the very strict laws of no food being allowed into the country, the only food that Aliza and Yehudah have been able to negotiate our taking off the ship are peanut butter or jam (jelly) sandwiches and muffins or baked goods. The tour buffet in Holiday Inn was so mean they would not even give us an apple or orange when asked.

During lunch we were treated to a show of Maori culture and of course to the Haka. No wonder NZ won the rugby world cup :-)

After lunch we went to see the geysers at Te Puia. This is also where there is a Maori cultural heritage site. The art of wood carving and weaving are taught in the hope that these handicrafts are passed on within Maori villages. We were also shown an ancestral home (a cross between a place of worship and a community centre). The geysers were spectacular. These are caused by water (and there was plenty of that today) entering holes in the earth and being heated by the magma and then being turned to steam and exploding back into the atmosphere. Then on to the mud pools nicknamed the frog pools because as the mud bubbles it shoots up into the air resembling frogs hopping onto lily fronds.

Back onto the bus for our long drive back to the ship. And who got dripped on inside the bus from a leaky roof?

Evening shabbat service was very tuneful. We had a shabbat feast and we all sat around talking and laughing until gone 11 pm. The staff are used to changing the table cloths and laying up for breakfast around us.

---

Photos

Small Bird, Big Egg
Kiwi eggs are disproportionately huge

Sheep's Best Friend
The quick black dog jumps over tbe lazy brown sheep

Thar She Blows!
Te Puia geyser in Rotorua