Today started bright and early when Gill gave us a lift to the Sky Tower Hotel where we were to catch our Gray Line bus tour town to the south again. It was nice to be on board a large coach with big clean windows and be able to take in the scenery and hear history and facts of the surrounding areas. We learned more about the Maori, about New Zealand. The Maori came in 902 from believed the South Pacific. A Dutch explorer Tazman came in 1642 but never made it to land since Maori had attacked Tazman and his men, killing some of his men. They turned back and when they were done saying, while on a small boat coming to land. some of their men trying to come to land. He was originally from Zealand in the Netherlands and as he gave his maps to the British they asked him to rename the place he had discovered on the map and called it New Zealand. That the country mostly has land based exports. There are more sheep and cattle than there are human residents here. The "City of Sails" aka Auckland proves it's name since one in four people in Auckland we were told have a boat.
At Waitamo Glowworm Caves we were led into limestone caves dripping with Stalactites. The "cathedral" was huge- the largest cavernous part of the cave. They say that without the echo, these caves have incredible acoustics and they hold concerts in them at Christmas and other times of the year. The cave dropped several stories and at one point on a deck almost the lights were turned off and they asked us to drop low and look at the ceiling below us. As we did the cave was lit with tiny lights that looks like fiber optics covering the ceiling. They then turned on a light that lit up the ceiling below and it lit up thousands of little hair like clear strands that dropped down from the glowworms which is how the worms catch their food. The worms live for 11 months. Their only predators are themselves, since they are cannibalistic and daddy-long-leg spiders. They die after they mate and lay their eggs... 1 day after for females and 2 days after males. We walked down from the dock/deck above and into a large row boat not he river that runs through the cave. The caves were pitch dark except for the milky way of lights above us that lit up the ceiling of the cave. We aren't allowed to take any photos since the lights and noise scare the worms and the bright light I believe can kill them. We roamed through the cave again lit up like a galaxy, exceeded expectations really. As we came out the other end of the cave we excited onto a dock and out of the cave dripping with vines and greenery. So magical really.
Our next stop was the Agrodrome. 2 hours later on the bus we arrived at a large sheep farm and dome where they do sheep herding and shearing demonstrations. We watched a man, exactly what you expect from someone that sheers sheep- fair skinned, brawny, slightly hairy himself and able to throw down a sheep and sheer in less than a minute:) Good show by our guide and then out to the field where they demonstrated how a sheep herding dog does his work. The dog was apparently still being trained since it took a while to get the sheep into the paddock. It was actually pretty funny since the guy was shouting commands and was getting a bit worked up into a sweat, more than the dog honestly. It become more of a demonstration on how they train the dogs, which was fascinating really how they are trained to cut right and left and sit to control the direction of the sheep. We then boarded a tractor which took us around the farm and allowed us to feed the sheep and llamas and checkout the amazing looking Scottish bulls, with bangs and horns that distinguish them as different than any cow I had seen.
Next stop was Roturua and the Te Puia Heritage site that has Maori cultural demonstrations including dancing and singing inside a Maori gathering place and then a sculpture and weaving school. They place also had the hot springs and geysers and mud pools. This is a very active geothermal area, with many hot pots and mud pools and natural geysers created from cracks in the earth and magma heating the water and earth to temperatures which create spurting steam and bubbling earth. Sam learned the Haka and performed it with other men. This the ceremonial dance they do before war or in the modern day before a big competition to intimidate their "enemies". Sam was a good sport. We also learned another dance that is done and that was fun to participate in. My favorite thing was the Poi balls that the woman fling around in their dances and the throwing sticks.
Today was a great sampling of what this region is about. It was a highlight tour with lots of scenery as we drove all over the Waitamo region. (For those looking for tips, I would have stayed in Rotorua and spent one day seeing Hobbiton and Hamilton and a half day at the farm rather than driving back and forth. But a lot of these places aren't that close to each other and so you need to be able to drive. Although staying down there you would save yourself 4 hours of extra driving coming back and forth to Auckland) We had a great sampling and it was nice to come back to Gill's home and crawl into bed and leave our bags unpacked for another night. We also enjoyed meeting these Hindi newlyweds from India. They were essentially still on their honeymoon after being married for 9 months. This is the vacation they had wanted to take, but so many customs and things they had to do tied to their wedding. It was so interesting to talk to them about their customs. I asked hoping not to be rude but just curious if their's was an arranged marriage. Yes it was! Kind of amazing that today couples are still being arranged by their parents. Don't get me wrong, I would love to do this but again it isn't my life. They said they were introduced to each other and then after a few hours of talking they asked each other if the other would be ok marrying each other. They both agreed they could marry each other after future courtship. After 3 months they were engaged and then came the wedding 3 months after that. I asked if she wore all the dresses and had all the fanfare and they said yes. Their wedding lasted 5 days and they had 10,000 people attend!!!! I couldn't help myself, and had to ask how can any bride's father afford that? They split the cost and most people brought gifts, but thank you notes aren't required. They showed us tons of pictures on their iPhones of her feet and hands covered in henna tattoos. They also showed us the ceremony where he ties a string around her neck with a pendant of sorts on the end. This is really the symbolic wedding jewelry that "seals the deal" as I understood it. She receives an engagement ring, but the string is the significant symbol. Lucky for her father, she is an only child and her husband just has one other brother....10,000 wedding guests is a whole new level of party! What an event. They said that for 2 months after the wedding that they had to make do the traditional visits to their family and relatives. They are now taking the honeymoon they wanted and seem to be having the time of their life... sky diving, ice baring, all things adventure. Really fun getting to know them over the many hours in the bus and they gave us all kinds of places we need to visit on our next trip to India.
For dinner we had a taxi drop us off after our tour right near our place in Ponsonby. There were lots of little hip restaurants and lots more people eating out it being a Friday night. We chose to eat somewhere quick and enjoyed a little Asian stand next to Thai Me Up- which is where we had wanted to go. There was definitely an event happening there since the street was crowded with girls and men carrying bottles of wine and socializing waiting to get into the restaurant. Then all of a sudden Sam and I spotted some 1960s hot rod that pulled up infront of the restaurant and then all of a sudden laid rubber, as we say, and pulled a huge screeching donut in the middle of the road- showing off the big engine and flashy car and then literally pulled out and went screeching down the main drag. HILARIOUS!! We couldn't believe our eyes. It was a total muscle car show move. We were cracking up and the people sitting next to us said they had never seen anything like it. It was a scene from Pretty in Pink/Grease. So funny. Could only snap a photo of the skid mark he left since we were all too stunned to snap a video of it all going down. What a funny topper to our night.
Back at the house we stayed and visited with Gill for a bit recounting our day before we headed to bed and uploaded some pictures before passing out once again on my bed. So much to see and do here in NZ. I see now why people can spend a month here!
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