Friday March 4, 2016 – We tied up at the container port in Auckland, New Zealand at 6 AM and we were off the ship by 7:15AM to catch the 12 hour tour at 7:30AM.
Aukland was our first stop in New Zealand, a country that we had not visited before. A few details – population of the country is 4.5 million with 1.5 million living in Auckland and indeed 70% live on the North Island. About 18% are Maori who came from Polynesia over 1000 years ago were canibals, had no written language, no metal or even bows and arrows until the European settlers. In Maori it is known as “Al Toreo” (land of the long white cloud). Auckland was the capital (1840-1865) then it was moved to Wellington in 1865. It is about the same size as the United Kingdom and is about the same distance from the poles, but about as far as one can get away from one another. It was the Treaty of Waitangi (6 Feb 1840) between the British and Maori that placed New Zealand as part of the British Commonwealth. We did not see much of Auckland as the your was to Rotorua and the Thermal Valley.
The 3 hour drive from Auckland to Rororua with a brief convenience break in Matamata, seemed to go by in a flash as we were glued to the window and the amazing countryside that forms most of New Zealand. The stop in Matamata was interesting as it is known also as hobbit-town since the Lord of the Rings was filmed here and the permanent set remains for tourist visits. The information center in the town is also shaped like a hobbit house.
The first stop was at the Agridome – a tourist destination which demonstrates aspects of agriculture / farming in particular sheep, although along the highway cows seemed to be by far the predominant livestock. Apparently the price farmers get for lamb & its products, is far less than cattle and its products. Upon arrival at the location, we were ushered into an auditorium type place that would seat about 1000 people on benches and a stage. The stage had an open flat area up front close to the audience and various steps in two rows along the back each having a name. When the show began, one after the other, different breeds of lambs were brought out – Marino, Romney, Corriedale, Cheviot, Border & English Leiceister, Perendale, Coopworth, Lincoln, Texel, Dorper, Drysdale, Dorset Horn, Poll Dorset, Suffolk and South Suffolk, Southdown, Dorset Down and Black Romney. I never realized that there were so many different types of sheep and each used for different purposes. The MC chap covered the ears of the Southdown as he whispers to the audience – this is the best for BBQ! After presenting and describing the different breeds he did a full sheep sheering, which was interesting to watch again (like at Ockhams). Apparently the record is 750 sheep sheered in an 8 hour period by one man!!!
The next part of the show was milking cows, followed by a sheep dog demonstration, however on stage the dog shepherded ducks not sheep. The sheep herding part was done in an adjacent external arena. A really fun time. We got to pet the sheep, some fed the babies, and in general an enjoyable livestock agricultural show.
We then proceeded to the Holiday Inn in Rotorua (Roto = Lake and Rua = #2 – thus “second lake” in Maori). Here we were presented with a nice lunch – Lamb, Beef, Pork, Chicken, vegetables, salad etc, NZ wine and the desert / pudding invented in New Zealand – Pavlova – a Merrngue with fruit. During the lunch we were treated to a Maori show with singers and dancers, including the “Haka” -Maori war dance where a threatening stance, posture, noise and expression is adopted in the hope of scaring off the enemy, thus avoiding the battle. It is used by the All Blacks Rugby team before each match.
Rotorua has a gorgeous lake and sandy shores, but the main attraction is the sulphur springs and natural geothermal phenomena. We went to the Te Puia in the Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley. Full name is “The War Dance of the war parties of Wāhiao” – Te Whakarewarewatanga o te ope taua a Wāhiao. This area has a very thin mantle of the earth (8-9 miles Vs the usual 100 mile thick) allowing for naturally occurring geothermal phenomena. Here magma heats up the groundwater allowing for this hot water to erupt as geysers (some 90 feet high), hot mud pools and fumaroles (steam or gas vents) and hot pools. The smell of sulphur dioxide was everywhere, but we soon got used to it and were told tat studies have been done that indicate that breething it in, is not harmful. There are in the area some 500 pools and 65 geysers. We saw the largest geyser Pōhutu (big / constant splash) which blows steam and superheated water some 30 meters (100 ft) into the air. Spectacular. We also saw the largest mud pool at Ta Puia (Ngā mōkai-a-Koko) with a depth of 6-10 meters (18-31 feet) and the bubbling mud was at some 90+ degrees C (194F). As we wandered through the park we were met with Mānuka and Kānuka plants (tea tree) and even saw the nocturnal endangered Kiwi bird – yes a real live one, but the picture is of a stuffed one! The final stage of the tour was to a recreated Maori village with the big meeting house and the different areas including weaving and wood carving schools that teach the old ways of working to the students. After a brief bit of “retail therapy” we headed back on the coach to Auckland and the ship with a brief stop in Matamata.
After proceeding through the magnetometer and screening we were greeted on the Quayside by an impromptu cocktail party and champagne flowed. A very nice touch by Cunard following a long day.
It was good to see that Tachy had made it back safely from her visit to Mexico and Toronto and was back in the “womb” of our temporary home on the ship. She was asleep after the long flight and major change of hours, but safe and sound. So Nelson, DIana and Roger went to the evening show at 8:45PM at which there was an exhibit of Maori culture, dances and songs. It was very similar to the one we saw at lunch but not quite as good.
A day full of adventure – tiring, but we were all exhilarated by shat we were able to experience. We set sail about 11PM for the 130 mile journey to The Bay of Islands which will be tomorrow’s port of call.
Roger & Anne Travels 