Seduced By Fire: June 15th continued

I'm back. It is June 18th at 3:20 p.m.

After visiting Te Puia we hopped on the coach and headed out of Rotorua to the Agrodome
This was a slice of sheep farming. They had a show that introduced the different kinds of sheep. There are sheep for their fur, food and even milking (ugh). The Mirano is the big sheep on the top of the sheep pyramid. The softest fur comes from them. Two types of dogs are used in herding the sheep. One is very quiet and another is very loud. Sheepdogs are very important. They also walk across the back of sheep. I spent too long in the gift shop and missed the herding demonstration held outside.

We stayed at the Agrodome for only an hour. We moved on to Rainbow Springs Nature Park
This park had a clever way of a guided tour. They had a hand held device that spoke a commentary at each stop. You entered the number and it began. They had many different languages available. It is a park that shows endangered species of plants and animals.

We headed back to the hotel. Our coach drove us around the parks of Rotorua and was back at hotel by 12:30.This was not enough time for any of our stop that morning. We ate lunch and took a cab back to Te Puia. I explored more of the Maori buildings.

David and I headed for the downtown, while Dea Jae and Dad stayed at the hotel. Rotorua is definitely a tourist town and has a quaint shopping center. I picked up some longjohns and wool scarf. I was fearful of how cold it would be in the south island.

A moment to comment on the Maori Culture. I may get some of this wrong. New Zealand did not have people until the Maori migrated between 9th and 13th Centuries. They came in 7 boats, creating 7 tribes. 5 in the north island and 2 in the south. This warrior race had to adapt to a world of no mammals. They created cloaks out of feathers, weave with grasses, carved weapons out of green stone and carved fabulous stories in their meeting houses. I am surprised to no clay work. They had an oral history until fairly recently. They had a hierarchy system until them saw how kings and queens ruled. They fought for their land as the British expanded. Today the Maori have TV shows that speak their language; they own land they lease out to developers ; they created a tourist economy that helps keep their traditions alive.

June 16, we flew out of Rotorua to Queenstown. We got in around 4:30. Ate dinner and crawled into bed. We are staying at Copthorne Hotel

June 17 we got on a coach from the hotel headed for Milford Sound. We shared our coach tour with about 20 other people. We followed along the edge of Lake Wakatipu, through Kingston and Mossburn and had tea at Te Anau.