So sorry there hasn’t been an update! For me, there has either been no wifi available, or when we were with our home stay families, we were so busy, I never even asked them if wifi was available at their home. Here’s an update…
July 6, we were in Rotorua. ..an amazing place full of thermal pools…everywhere! In people’s backyards, along the side of the road, out in fields... you just see steam rising. If you get closer, you’ll often see an area fenced off, and in the midst is boiling water! The smell of sulphur is everywhere. They say it’s actually good for you…with more than the average number of people living into their hundreds.
In the morning of the 6th, we went to the Rotorua District Council and met with Karen Hunt, a district council member. She explained a lot about New Zealand government, comparing and contrasting parts of it to ours. She also told us various facts about NZ For example, 97% of their milk products are exported. They have no local taxes and there is no tipping! NZ has a lot less regulations than the US. There is also no suing! Police don’t wear guns, although certain ones have access to firearms. When one of our delegates asked why, she said NZ is a safe country with small pockets of danger…so they don’t really need to wear them. Rotorua has 120 km of designated mountain bike trails and has won the award for ‘Most beautiful city’ 6 times in the last 11 years. Their forests have 60 different species of trees! (They also have redwoods!) 
The speed limit on main highways is 100 km/hour. However, in New Zealand, you can really go 110 km/hr without getting stopped. In Australia, if they say 100 km/hr, that’s what they mean. It was so interesting listening to Karen, and the delegates asked some great questions.
From the council chambers, we took off to the Agrodome! We learned a little about the 19 breeds of sheep in NZ. The Romney is the #1 breed… the Suffolk is the #1 meat sheep in the world… the Southdown has the sweetest meat… We also learned that after a sheep is sheered, in 12 hours they skin will double in thickness to compensate for their loss of wool! We also watched them sheer one. The Agrodome was GREAT!~ A lot of us took some adorable photos with some of the sheep!
Next stop was Skyline Skyrides. We rode gondolas to the top of the mountain, then rode the luge down. So much fun! Lunch was there in a wonderful restaurant with a stunning view of the city and Rotorua lake. 
From there, we went to the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. This is a park that has something like 50 thermal pools. It was incredible…with signs everywhere warning of the dangers of 100 degree Celsius (boiling) water pools! It was also raining as we walked around the park…we were in two groups, and each group had a guide.
Drying out a little in the bus, we then went to the Maori tribe. We first met with the grandmother… then Chad, our designated warrior, accepted the challenge from a Maori warrior, which allowed us entrance into the Tunohopu Marae meeting house.
Once inside, two warriors and two women did some demonstrations for us…and then taught our ‘warriors’ some of their stances and customs. Many videos and photos were taken of this! Then our ladies learned how to use these instruments for a sort of dance. The Maori cooked our dinner over steam… and then we settled in for our huge sleepover! We were all…all 49 of us, sleeping in the Marae…one big room. The grandmother came in and told us stories. After she left, there were circles of card games going on, groups just sitting around visiting, and some too tired to stay awake. The Maori had set up all the mattresses and blankets while we were eating…
July 7
The Maori served us breakfast… we said our thank yous and good-byes…loaded the bus and took off for Huka Falls! There, we got in four Huka Jet boats and went on some WILD rides on the river. Some were scared to death…but oh my gosh, was it ever fun! The actual Huka Falls is amazing! While we were there, we learned there had just been an 7.8 earthquake near Fiji…but we never felt it. Plus, there was a tsunami warning, which was cancelled by the time we even heard about it.
After the jet boats, we took off for the ride to New Plymouth. We stopped along the way in Taupo for lunch…and continued on. We arrived at Spotswood College (a high school) where we were paired up with our home stay families. Each of the leaders was also in a home stay. My family was the Thomson’s, who I absolutely loved!
July 8
Your children will have to fill you in on their experiences with their families. But all went to school with their host brother/sister for part of the day.
July 9 (today!)
We all met back at the high school this morning to say our goodbyes to our host families, board the bus, and start our long trek to Wellington. As I went around asking, “How was your home stay?”, every delegate answered with replies like, “Amazing!”… “I didn’t want to leave!”… “”It was so much fun!”, etc. It was a long drive today… we came upon an accident where a car had gone off the road because of hail… it was definitely storming off and on. But we must have arrived JUST after the hail had stopped. We also heard there was a tornado here…but we only heard about it.
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Sue also took us to Pukekura Park...which is absolutely gorgeous! Most of these photos are from there!
Leaving New Plymouth, we headed to our next stop...Wellington. I'm loving the countryside and the road signs!
So…earthquake, tsunami, hail, and tornado… we’ve only heard about them after they’ve happened and we’re all perfectly fine…having a blast!
Judy, Thank you for the update. I am dying to hear about all of the adventure from Marci. Have a great day!! Teresa Moir
ReplyDeleteJudy, Thank You for the update. Megan has been in touch with us on a regular basis and she is having a great time so far and looking forward to the rest of the journey.
ReplyDeleteKathleen Molavi