We started out the morning searching for wireless to be able to keep all of you updated on our gripping travels … and ended up at a Starbucks of all places. Then, off to a Kiwi Conservation Center to view a wildlife park and a special conservation center for the endangered (and adorable) kiwi bird. This breeding center takes laid eggs from the wild and raises them up to the age of one year and then releases the bird back into the wild. Once the bird has reached one year it is able to defend itself from predators: dogs, cats, possums, stoats (aka weasels) and such. There used to be millions of kiwis but now there are only thousands left and the population gets smaller all the time. They may live up to 100 years old but none have made it that far yet because of predation and habitat loss. We
got to see the incubation system and brooding cages and get right next to three of them in a special nighttime habitat for about a half hour. An adult kiwi is actually quite large, about the size of a large chicken, with a huge back end and a long beak that they poke around for grubs with. It’s extremely doubtful we’ll see one anywhere but a zoo or center like this.
Then we went to a thermal area to see more sulphur pools. This one was a Maori village that had grown around a thermal area that had a large geyser at the center (which blew every 45 minutes or so). The sulphurous stench is quite strong and while you’d think you get used it, you do not. The pools are extremely hot, near boiling 200 deg F at the surface and hotter as they go down. They will hang food into the pool (corn, cauliflower, meat, etc.) to cook it within minutes. The Maori cultural event wasn’t running today (it was kind of a low rent operation) and the village looked … forced. It also didn’t help to have the street urchins working the tourists for scraps (coins, food) and otherwise tearing around the place. Also, once again the Chinese have represented themselves well as repulsive and rude tourists. Yay!
We drove out of Rotorua, arriving at the beautiful Lake Taupo in time for an early afternoon snack. On the lake we could see a sailing class in progress (with about a dozen little sailboats, some not sailing too well and the teachers on motorboats running around helping students) and across the lake in the far distance (about 20-30 miles away) we could see the mountains that were the day’s destinations.
We drove into the Tongariro national park area, which surrounds three huge volcanos. We eventually settled into a holiday park (lodge + huts + tent sites + campervan sites) that advertised views of all three volcanos, and the view didn’t disappoint. Chris was able to take a great series of panoroma shots. One of the mountains, Ngauruho, is also known as Mount Doom in some famous movie about fairies. Our campervan was backed onto a huge meadow fringed in the distance with forest, and we could hear all sort of nefarious natural things going on out there as night fell. Chris was able to get a quick look at the cloudless night sky, seeing the stars of the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, and the Milky Way splashed across the dome. And, believe it or not, Chris thinks that the space station made an appearance! A bright light made its way across the sky, in the right direction and speed for ISS, and having seen it cross over so many times, he’s sure that’s what it was. We just need to confirm it once we have the internet and time to goof off with it …
We had sandwiches and Sauvingon Blanc for dinner. We tucked in with the heater on and lots of blankets.
We’re on really slow internet connections so not a lot of pictures for now.
Once we have a better connection, we’ll go back and add more to these.