Day 58 9th March 2011

Geysers

19 breeds of Sheep

It has been a fabulous day in Tauranga. It was sunny, warm and bright. You can clearly see why people want to move to New Zealand. It is very beautiful with magnificent sea fronts, mountains and valleys. We have been on a day long tour to Rotorua with lots of stops along the way. We left a few minutes after the ship was docked and got back a few minutes before it was due to leave. We did three main activities:

1. We went to the agrodome and saw demonstrations of sheep shearing, different breeds of sheep, sheep dog work and milking cows. It sounds weird but it was done with humour and the dogs were simply amazing and so where the sheep.

2. We saw some Maori singing and dancing. This was excellent with a large group of performers in a theatre within the Holiday Inn where we stopped for lunch. I managed to try some more local beer. This time Tui Gold. It was very good and so was the lunch.

3. Finally we went to see the boiling mud pools and geysers of Rotorua. Around the town the familiar sight is steam coming from the many different pools. The high spot of this stop was actually getting to see a couple of Kiwis. These are remarkable birds and rather larger than you imagine. There were also demonstrations of Maori woodcarving and weaving.

The ship left at 6pm and the sail away passed many wonderful beaches and exciting scenery.

The ship has collected over £4000 for the earthquake appeal with one day left to make contributions. It is for the Red Cross.

Tomorrow is our final stop in New Zealand and we shall be in Auckland in the morning.