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At the Agrodome
Neil and his large MerinoSunday, 21st April - Day Eighteen: in Rotorua
Seeing 18 sheep on a stage behaving so well is an amusing experience and touching them afterwards is a strange sensory experience, especially as their wool is either so thick, so tangly or so oily with the lanolin. But, watching the sheep dogs run over their backs and lying down on them was even more strange. This was at the Agrodome after an other early morning start.
There was plenty more to see but for us, quickly onto Rainbow Springs for a walk to see the flora and fauna of Rotorua, including more kiwis, birds and trees.
During a short bus tour of the town our bus driver tells us that tourism is the third largest income earner in NZ and that about 93% of tourists come to this area. Agriculture is the 2nd largest. Guess what the first is? Forestry is now also a booming industry but not first.
It’s a cloudy, wet day and in the evening it pours while we wait outside to be met by painted Maori warriors and their weapons, in an ancient ceremony that could have turned into a war in past times.
They have to be appeased with a token of friendship by our appointed tribal leader (a young man on our bus) in order to be welcomed into their village in the Tawa forest and when the strangers are found to be friendly, the tribal leaders touch nose to nose greeting each other.
We wander through the village and see demonstrations of face painting, weaving, how food was cooked in pits, etc, and are entertained with a war dance and story telling. The hangi feast is fish, lamb and chicken cooked in the pits in the traditional way and ends with an official closing ceremony.
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