Mmmm, stinky!

The trip from Tauranga to Rotorua was nice enough, not a patch on some of the other scenery, but it had the added advantage of the promise of actually seeing a real live honest to goodness, cute and fluffy Kiwis!

The aptly named ‘Kiwi Experience’ rears the cute little blighters in a safe environment, and then returns them to the wild, as apparently less than 5% of wild eggs reach beyond 6 months due to pesky introduced pests like stoats, cats and dogs.

Suz and I got to see some of the eggs they currently have being turned and candled and then got to see a really fluffy little thing that was only two days old. Soooo cute! Trouble is, we weren’t allowed to take photos, so in time honoured tradition, here’s one I stole earlier…

these things are HUGE when they are born, apparently the egg takes up 25% of the female’s body when it’s laid. Ouch!

Anyway, we then went outside to see three that were captive bred while they rootled around for grubs, they are brilliant! If you ever get a chance to see a kiwi (of the fluffy variety, not the haka shouting loonies) do so, they won’t disappoint.

We then drove up to Lake Tarawera via the Blue Lake and the Green Lake, with the whole place smelling of sulpher…

and again with the scenery!

This place is the site of a massive explosion that occurred in 1886 burying an entire village with a massive loss of live. Before that the people here used to take tourists like me to see beautiful cascades of sulpher. When Mount Tarawera blew, it buried the lot.

So tonight, we’re off to Te Po, a traditional evening with the native maori for lots of yelling, chanting and dining! Should be fun if I can get Suz up to join in!