Tauranga (pronounced TA-ron-ga) and Rotorua (pronounced ROTO-rua) are located on the east coast of North Island in the Bay of Plenty, in a volcanic valley.
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Our day was spent at Te Puia Thermal Reserve. The air had a faint scent of egg salad from the thermal activity. We first went to a traditional Māori village recreation, where we watched a wonderful presentation of traditional singing and dancing in their replica marae.
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Lunch was very good. Not sure if it’s my sense of smell coming back from my sinus infection or what, but the food was excellent! I had a delicious corn chowder with fresh bread and butter, tidbits of traditionally cooked food, and some kick-ass fried chicken.
After lunch we went to see some kiwis, which are traditionally shy and nocturnal. We walked through the Kiwi House, which keeps the nights and days reversed so we can see the birds awake and moving. Kiwis are very fluffy and chicken-like with long sharp beaks. They are flightless birds (which seems to be the case for many birds in New Zealand). They don’t have a good life expectancy in the wild. Once they match up into a breeding pair, the female will lay one to two eggs up to 1 pound in a burrow and leaves to find food. The male then incubates the eggs for about 80 days. Once the chick hatches, the male also leaves to find food and go back to their solitary lives. The chick is fully feathered and eyes open and is on its own. They are vulnerable to introduced predators like stoats, dogs, and cats.
Since we couldn't take pictures of the birds, here is a link to one in San Diego Zoo: Kiwi Bird
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Then we walked to the Wai-O-Tapu thermal valley with its mud pools, geysers, craters, and volcanic lakes. There was so much thermal activity in the area, and the residents depend on it for heating, cooking, etc. As you look around the landscape, you can see dozens of hills that are volcanoes (dormant and active).
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We toured the Arts and Crafts Village, where young people from across New Zealand come to apprentice and learn traditional Māori crafts like carving and weaving from artists in residence.
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A drive through the countryside showed a great many kiwi fruit farms. They grow on vines – I’m not sure how I thought they grew, but I was surprised to see their setup. Kiwi originally came from China, known as Chinese Gooseberry. They grow exceptionally well here, and farmers are developing several varieties of kiwi, like smooth-skinned, pink, and red. Their vines are trained over ropes and stretched out similar to grapevines. They look like umbrellas.
As we drove along, I noticed that most of the sheep had been sheared already as it is summertime. One particular herd looked weird like they had abnormally long necks. I finally realized I was looking at alpacas, not sheep. And I was too late to take a picture of them, so you’re out of luck.
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I heard a wonderful story of conservation success in Tauranga. The Chatham Islands Black Robin was brought back from extinction by a single breeding pair named Old Blue (female) and Old Yellow (male). In 1972 conservation officers could only find 18 birds. In 1976 there were only 7 birds left. These were moved to Mangere Island which had been planted with 120,000 trees to provide better shelter. By 1980, two more birds had died, and no new chicks. With one breeding pair left in existence, the New Zealand Wildlife Service started cross-fostering eggs and young to another species to boost productivity. As of 2021, there are approximately 300 black robins, and the population is stable. The fostering program has become a model for saving other endangered birds.
Our lovely driver Geoff kept referring to the area around Tauranga as a “Peninsula-Isthmus”, and after the tenth time I wanted to yell out “IT CAN’T BE BOTH!!!” but I didn’t want to embarrass him as he was doing a good job even though he slammed on the brakes at a roundabout and almost launched the old people in the front seats through the windshield. (Maybe a little BECAUSE he did that - those ladies in the front talked NON-STOP the whole day.)
Another moment in need of cultural translation was when a man at the Māori presentation shouted, “All Black!” and expected everyone to cheer. The Americans and Canadians were like, “yay?” I found out later that the Māori All Blacks are a rugby union team, and a prerequisite for playing on the team is that a player has Māori genealogy. They wear all black uniforms and do a cool haka dance when they are going into the game. The haka dance is the traditional battle dance. Here is a link to the YouTube video of the All Blacks Haka for your viewing pleasure. Here is one from the marae welcome:
You may recall that I had some clothing issues in the Pacific going to LA and then to Hawaii where the weather was very cold, and I packed for hot weather. Things evened out as we went through Polynesia, but now that we are in New Zealand, the weather has turned cool again - 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. This is perfect weather for me – not too hot but requires layers. I may need to go shopping again for some sweaters.
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