We awoke super super early to make it on the road 25 kilometers or so back toward Taupo. The day before we saw all the steam vents and was very excited to see what it was all about. We looked up in a brochure and decided to get down there. We traveled and arrived right at the opening of the Wai-o-topu Thermal Wonderland. We had an ~75 min walk ahead of us and so we got to it. Dan was the photographer for the day (unless he is in the photo) and took charge. He also took some amazing photos. We saw hot springs that were bubbling at 100 degrees Celsius (boiling water), craters, and caves. There were lakes made by these hot springs and were colored by all the different metal oxides released from the volcanic activity below. On cool event was the simulated volcanic eruption followed by actual lava flow and with vigorous clapping we triggered an earthquake. Hehe just kidding if you couldn't tell. The park was completely natural and came with the Lady Knox Geyser erupting at 10:15 am sharp. Well this was artificially stimulated by releasing environmentally safe surfactants (soap) into the opening. Sure enough at 10:15 she blew her lid and it was cool. One of the best sites so far to see. Since she continued for an hour we were able to take some nice photos and even some fun ones. The photos should come soon. The only other thing to see in the park is the mud pools. Bubbly muddy goodness.
We headed from Wai-o-tapu and made our way to Agroventures ie. the Schweeb. I can describe the schweeb in one word AWESOME!! It was super fun and when we get home we will have a video waiting for us to view. As for who won it depends on who you ask. Dan came in at 1:07 and i made it in 1:18 which was below average for both sexes. Technically he beat me but i beat the average by more about 6 secs while he was only under by 3 secs. So we both won in a way. We also did the free fall extreme which we were pushed upwards by a large jet engine to simulate the feeling of free falling. Other than the fact that it was hard to get the hang of it, it was still fun. We have a video of that too. We decided since they didn't allow us to film the schweeb we should pay there super high price for the videos. Hopefully when we get back and watch them it will have been worth it.
Once we were done getting our extreme adventure on, we headed up the hill to the Agrodome. Here the have many many sheep, 19 different varieties actually. We got our tickets for the sheep show and waited around. We played with some baby sheep. They let you get into the pen and play with them. Since my friend Betsy's family used to have sheep I was not scared of them. In fact I quite enjoyed petting and picking them up. We took our front row seats (I wanted to be close). We meet a very cool Aussie family and had fun talking to them about New Zealand, Australia and the US. They have traveled around the west coast and have been to Hawai'i. When the show started Dan and I were amazed by all the sheep. The MC was very funny as well and it was a fun experience. We also got to see them shave a sheep bare and they had a dairy cow ready for milking. Audience members were asked to volunteer and I shot my hand hand up and got to milk the cow. I had previously not milked a cow but now I have. It was really fun and Dan got some good pictures. After the show we got to see how the wool was processed by carding and then spooling. All in all it was a good extra activity and one that I will remember for a long time.
One thing that our travel agent mentioned was having a Maori meal (hungi). I was hesitant then but we stopped by the Mital village to see what the food was. I wanted to make sure I could eat something. Sure enough they had Jeni types of food and we made our reservation. The Aussies recommended this village and so we were excited to have a chance to see and learn about the natives. The night began with introductions and the appointing of a chief. We were a tribe of 18 nations with our chief from Singapore. In fact no one volunteered to be chief (well no man did, I would have but no woman could be chief). So the Ukranian woman randomly picked the Singapore man. I think because he was alone and an easy target. Much to his chagrin he agreed to do it. Once that was over we got to see our food being cooked. Dan sorta misled you as to how it is cooked. We believe that was the ancient way with burying it under grow d because now they just have a big steam pit in the ground. Probably because it is more controllable and safer. We watt he'd their native welcome show complete with dance, a showing of their games, and some war calls. It was fun to see the cultural part of New Zealand and learn a little bit about the Maori. We had dinner after the show and we starving. It consisted of salads (lettuce and noodle), roasted potatoes, domed lamb or chicken and some garlic bread. They also provided dessert which was Triffle, tropical fruit and a chocolate log ( large Swiss Cake roll). The food overall was very tasty and it was nice not to have to choose what to eat. We ate our full and talked with a British couple during the entire meal. They we very nice and recommended some sites in the South Island. So we will have to see if we get a chance to see them. Once dinner was done we went on a nature hike to see their sacred waters surrounded by more glowworms. It was all a great experience and Dan and I are glad we got to have it. It is nice to see a different piece of New Zealand.
Time to retire to our room again and await the South Island in the morning.
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