Life is a Journey: May 13, 2008 Rotorua

May 13, 2008 – Rotorua

Weather: Mostly fine

Today was Rotorua Day. We actually stayed two nights in the same campground giving us time to do some sightseeing around town.

One of the reasons that we stay at the particular campground that we stay at is because of the mineral baths there and the soaking last night was very therapeutic for my cold. This morning we all headed over to the Agrodome for the sheep show there. We learned and saw 19 different varieties of sheep the king of them all being the merino. The sheep show is interesting and includes: shearing of a sheep, milking a cow, feeding young lambs, sheep dogs herding geese on stage, etc. Then it’s outside for a demonstration of sheep dog trials and then inside a smaller building for a demonstration of a mechanized wool processing machine. It’s a good time there.

Across and down the road from the Agrodome is the Zorb facility. We stopped in there and watched a number of Zorber’s go down the hill. Looks like fun but not for me. They put you in this big ball at the top of a hill and then give you a shove down the hill. The ball is transparent plastic and about 12 feet in diameter with a smaller ball inside suspended with plastic strands. You crawl into the inner ball through a short tunnel. Once in there they strap you in so you basically can’t move. As you go down the hill youmight have rotation in two different directions. The other method is to go “wet” where they put water in the bottom of the inside ball and you lay in that as you go down. “Wet” would be my choice if I was to do it since you’re remaining stable floating in the water and not rotating with the ball as you go down. No one from any of the Habitat trips that we have been on have ever down this as far as I know. A Zorb concession might be a good thing to have in the US as I have never seen one there. Someone from The Morning Show did it live a couple months ago however so there must be one there someplace.

Zorber's

The Acreman’s, and Joan and I stopped in Rotorua and had lunch and then went to the Rotorua Art and History Museum. Joan and I had been there before so we walked the grounds while Roy and Marjorie toured inside. The grounds there are beautiful and we enjoyed the rose gardens (still blooming), all the different trees, and the bowling greens all finely trimmed. We noticed a group of people that were having a lot of “fun” by the hot mud pool. We had seen the pool earlier and it was guarded with a fence and there is a sign on it saying that it was around 210 degrees. These people were taking eggs and putting them in mesh bags and then dropping them in the pool with a fishing pole and line. They were working in teams and having to boil the eggs and then eat them. Some were not so hard boiled. We started talking with them and it turned out they were a corporate group doing team building exercises around the grounds. They were in general having a great time.

In the evening it was off to the Tamaki Mauri Hangi feast. It’s a whole evening of enjoyment put on by mauri’s starting with the bus trip from the campground out to their place outside of town. It’s a great evening with a lot of singing, the buffet feast, and the indoctrination and education about the Mauri culture.