Kiwis, and Sheep and Geysers - Oh my!

Day 6

Today we left Vegas. Um, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? No, not really. Obviously I just wrote about it, didn’t I? Before we left the area we went to Te Puia which is a park where we could see some big geysers in action and big mud pools. Also, they have 2 kiwi birds in captivity and we got to see them. Kiwis are endangered and the park actually has a breeding program which is reasonably successful. I must say, I thought the kiwi was actually much smaller but man, the kiwi is quite a pudgy thing! Kind of cute though… in its own peculiar way.

Side note: Do you know why New Zealanders are known as Kiwis to everyone in the world? No, it is not because of the fruit. And it’s not because of the fat little bird. It is actually because of the Kiwi shoe products. The name picked up in World War I when the polish was used by soldiers. Funny thing is, an Aussie man actually created it but before the shoe polish hit the markets his wife, who was from New Zealand, passed away. In memory of her, the Aussie man called his product Kiwi. And the name caught on. Don’t you love fun facts?

After checking out the elusive kiwi bird, we headed over to the geysers which were about ready to blow. It was pretty cool actually. At first I was kind of like, “oh… neat.. a whole bunch of steam.” But then the thing erupted and it started to rain on everybody. Oh yeah, and it was smelly too. We all snapped some pictures of nature at work. Before we left the park, those of us on the Kiwi Experience bus had the fine opportunity to learn a traditional Maori song. The girls learned how to play a “poi” which simulates the sound of drum. It is a soft ball on the end of string and the lady tried to teach us a short little number that involved spinning the poi and using rhythm. Not going to lie – I kept hitting myself in the face. Good thing the ball was soft. After performing our number (only to a crowd of 8) we then headed back to the green machine and made our way to Waitomo, a small village in the middle of nowhere. There is one street with about 20 houses and buildings, tops. We are only spending a night here. The area is especially known for the water caves. I went for a short hike through Ruakuri Scenic Reserve and checked out some of the caves which were pretty cool. Some other people went on paid tours and evidently that was neat – could see glow worms and the whole bit. But glow worms are really just glow-in-the-dark maggots in my opinion so… yeah… I’ll pass on that thanks and stick to my free hike.

And with that folks, I am going to the one watering hole here in town. It’s called Curly’s Bar. How can you not love a name like that?