| Rotorua
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| NEW ZEALAND Day 25 12/10/97 Wayward Bus Day 26 12/11/97 Great Coast Road Day 27 12/12/97 Twelve Apostles Day 28 12/13/97 Melbourne/Auckland Day 29 12/14/97 "Kiwi" Experience Day 30 12/15/97 Aotearoa Day 31 12/16/97 Raining Cats & Dogs Day 32 12/17/97 Panning for Gold Day 33 12/18/97 Glacial River Day 34 12/19/97 Sun has Come Out! Day 35 12/20/97 Bungy Jump Day 36 12/21/97 Church of Good Shepherd Day 37 12/22/97 Kaikoura Day 38 12/23/97 Ferry Across Channel Day 39 12/24/97 Christmas Eve Day 40 12/25/97 Rotorua Day 41 12/26/97 Boxing Day! Day 42 12/27/97 Wiatomo Walkway Day 43 12/28/97 Black Water Tubing to View the GlowWorms Day 44 12/29/97 End of "Kiwi Experence" Day 45 12/30/97 Adelaide Day 46 12/31/97 Glenelg Beach Day 47 1/1/98 DDay Departure Day |
Christmas Babies at the Farm Show Thur. December 25, 1997 Day 40We had a 9:00 a.m. pull out time today. There were only a handful of us on the bus headed for Rotorua. It was a pretty short trip. We got there shortly after 10:00 a.m. Our hostel here was called "Hot Rocks". That was pretty appropriate. It was a VERY cloudy, overcast and drizzling kind of day. There was not much available to do as most things were closed. The only thing open was the Farm Show and Paradise Gardens. They were across the road from each other about 5 k out of town. I had said earlier in the trip I’d like to see working sheep dogs so this was my chance. Andrew agreed to go and we headed out in a drizzling rain. We’ve made an adventure out of everything we’ve done!! The thermal pools are all around town. There was a park of them just across from our hostel. We walked all through there on the way out instead of going down the road. That was pretty interesting. It was like a fog was sitting over them. It felt like we were in a thriller movie. It was very eerie looking. We stopped at a grocery we saw open and bought dinner groceries. We felt sure it wouldn’t be open all day. We carried them in our daypacks the rest of the day!! (They were closed on the way home) There was a big visitor center here with a big shop. Behind that building there were baby farm animals and we walked around to see and pet them all. They had a couple of young pups, calves, pigs, and of course sheep. Chickens and rabbits were around on their own. We were just killing time till the next performance. The crowd was not very big that came out of the show before us and ours wasn’t too big either. It was RAINING when it was time to go!! I tried to see if we could catch a ride with one of the tour buses but that was a no – so we headed back for a 5 K walk in the RAIN!! We were wet to the skin when we got back. The song "dancing in the rain" kept us laughing. We were starved by the time we got back as we hadn’t ever had lunch. We fixed grilled cheese and had chips and dip. We discovered a couple wild little kittens by the kitchen and tried to befriend them. I think they were starving too. This seemed like a good opportunity to curl up for a good read and nap. I read and Andrew really napped. There weren’t many kids at the hostel and the ones that were there were over in the building by the kitchen hanging out, playing music and pool all day. It really was kind of a boring day for them. We visited with several when we went back over to fix supper. The hostel is doing some renovating so we were using the kitchen of the Lava Bar. The bar itself was closed for Christmas. We were supposed to be though in the kitchen by 9:00 p.m. so we headed over about 7:30 p.m. We had rice and beans for Christmas dinner and nacho chips. That was a first too! We had fun and fixed some of the rice in a cereal mush to feed the kittens. It wouldn’t take too long to get them to trust you. It was back to my book for awhile. I guess this is why I don’t read for fun except on vacation. It keeps me up too late! Reading for work at home puts me right to sleep!! |
