Dec 30 - Caves, Cows, and Chiefs

Up early again for the hike to SkyCity to join our bus tour to the south. After a few anxious minutes while they tried to find our booking (remember they canceled the day before), we boarded the bus and headed south to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. It was good to have someone else take care of the driving and the continuous commentary was enlightening. Peter, our excellent driver, gave us Maori history and explained the words, though he wasn't Maori.  We arrived at Waitomo and were the first tour into the caves. After a 30 minute walking tour observing cave phenomenon (stalactites, stalagmites, columns, etc.), we boarded the boats to float on the river through the dark. The glow worms were incredible. Like thousands of stationary blue fireflies on the roof and walls of the cave. One could almost swear they were under the stars. Touristy but worth seeing.

Back on the bus and a box lunch en-route east to the Agrodome, outside Rotorua. The Agrodome is another touristy place where you board a tractor pulled wagon and feed (and pet, if you are foolish enough) cows, sheep, deer, ostrich, alpaca, ducks, goats, etc.

This is followed by a border collie (ours was named Queen, 18 months old) sheep herding demonstration. Quite impressive - you could almost hear the sheep muttering "we really hate this dog". This was followed by a sheep shearing demonstration that was quite interesting.  The sheep wasn't happy at all, but as long as you keep a sheep off its' feet, they just lay there and are passive. Finally, they showed us how the wool was processed into the final yarn for weaving. The best yarn is merino wool mixed with possum fur (no kidding, possum fur is hollow and provides exceptional warmth).  Possums were introduced to NZ and became a big problem, so it's good that they can at least use the fur.

Onward to Rotorua and the Te Puia Maori Arts & Crafts Institute for Cultural Demonstrations, a walk through the Kiwi House (the kiwi is a nocturnal bird and she was busy there in the dark) and a tour of the thermal areas.  We enter the Maori Center with our guide and she takes us to the meeting place.  It is a fascinating demo... we must choose a "King" (Harold from Pittsburgh volunteered - Lee was considering it) and then the king has to face a challenge - a silver fern leaf thrown down.. our king must pick it up keeping eye contact with the warrior.

The Challenge - keep eye contact!

Challenge Continued

Our king holds up under pressure so we make fiends.  Then we leave our shoes and go inside.

The whole meeting place is carved - amazing!  The weapons and items used in the dance are described along with the culture and each dance is demonstrated.  Whew, quite an aerobic demo!

We then toured the Kiwi House (it was dark, but the Kiwi was working) and strolled to the geyser and thermal pools.

Geezer with a geyser - front

Geezer with a geyser - back

 Most of the artisans were off on holiday, but the weavers and carvers there were interesting to watch.

The tour bus needed to leave so no time for the gift shop.  We had a small snack on the way back and watched the movie "Whale Rider". 

We got back to Auckland at 8 and stopped at the Grand Harbour Chinese Restaurant for dinner. The food was excellent and we wished we'd discovered it sooner especially since it was only a block from the condo.