Day #6. Rotorua cont.

"Goodmorning Peter" I said groggily as I came down the hostel steps.  Peter had a huge smile on his face.  "I've already eaten my breakfast!" he said.  I was barely even awake.  My roomies decided that 11:30 pm was a good time to do some sports massage therapy on each other with the lights on.  In addition to that slight sleep interference, the beds in this hostel are practically collapsed in the middle and you can feel every single spring digging into your back. 

I was moving at half pace this morning.  I took my time unpacking and repacking all my stuff (I do this every morning. It's my ritual. Can't stand a disorganized backpack.)  Took extra long to brush my teeth and all that jazz.  Spent a very nice leisurely hour video-skyping my boo.  Went down and set a few eggs on high heat to boil.  Oh btw, in New Zealand, if you want to use an electric outlet you must plug the item in and then flip a switch on.  I didn't know this for the 1st four days and thought either my adaptor was a piece of junk or all my electronics were broken.  No.  You must flip a switch.  It's the same for using the stove.  You can turn the burner nob all you want but nothing happens until you flip the dang switch.  Well, this morning I was a combination of sleepy and retarded and let my eggs "boil" for 10 minutes before realizing the stove wasn't even ON!!!  Good thing I didn't have to rush off anywhere.  Finally got my breakfast down and started walking into town at the incredibly late hour (for me) of 1100.

I wanted to go to Rainbow Springs and hold baby kiwi birds really really bad.  The lady at the front desk of my hostel told me there was a bus stop just down the road.  I kept walking and walking and walking.  Didn't see any bus stops anywhere!  I got to a busy intersection and pulled out my map.  "Which way is sky ridge?!!!" I shouted to some girls next to me who were eating fast food and, unfortunately for them, had their windows down :)  "That way!!" they yelled back, pointing to the right. "Are you walking there??" they asked, incredulously.  "Yes! I can't find my bus stop!!" I said.  "Want a ride?" they offered.  Ladies, is my name Heather J. Blake?!?!

How sweet of them!  I was so grateful cuz that would have been like a 30 minute walk.  And it was hot outside too.  But thanks to those lovely girls (they were eating chicken McMuffins, btw), there I was, standing outside Rainbow Springs native nature reserve and Kiwi Encounter.  I was really stoked that I would get to hold the baby kiwi.  I told my boyfriend what I was going to do on skype that morning and he was like, "ummm babe are you sure about that? Those things will gouge your eye out!"  But I insisted that the travel book said, I would hold a kiwi!!!  So when I got to the front desk of Rainbow Springs that I wanted the tour package where I would get to hold a kiwi.  She was like, "Dahhling the kiwi are nearly extinct, and besides that, they would tear you to shreds."  That was a buzkill to say the least.  I had hyped myself up about it all morning.  Turns out my guidebook actually only said I would get to "see" them.  Hmmm, how did I get that whole idea in my head anyway??  It all worked out, though, in the end.  I toured the park and saw numerous native plants, animals, and birds.  One really cool bird was the "Tui" which is like a mockingbird except waaayyy better.  This bird sounds magical!  Like something you would hear in Alice and Wonderland.  Its songs are very bell-like.  There were a couple of very fat hogs lying around doing nothing.  The "Weka" bird was neat too.  It's a very playful bird who likes to play hide-and-seek, hiding when the tourists are looking for it, then running out squeaking and throwing a fit when they get board and turn to leave.  

My favorite part of the experience came last.  I didn't get to hold any kiwi, but I did get to see the eggs being incubated and a newly born (just that morning!) baby chick.  To see a newborn baby kiwi chick like that is very, very special.  It takes an egg 70-80 days to incubate and the chick to finally hatch.  There were only about 8 eggs in the incubation room to begin with, so eggs hatching are few and far between.  After that I got to see an adult bird in their dark room.  Kiwi are nocturnal, so they have to stay in a room that is very dark and quiet and the only way tourists can see them is with a kind of red light.  The birds are quite large!  I was surprised.  They kind of look like porcupines… with beaks that are longer than straws.  In the 1800's, Captain Cook discovered the peculiar bird and sent a skin back to England.  Nature specialists there thought the thing was so peculiar, they were certain that foul play was involved and that Captain Cook had somehow sewn together the skins and parts of multiple animals. 

But the kiwi really did exist... part bird, part... no one really knew. Today, the bird is endangered because man has interfered with their habitat.  There was a rabbit problem in New Zealand.  The rabbits were eating all the farmer's goodies up.  So a ferret type creature called the "Stoat" was introduced to decrease the rabbit population.  Unfortunately, the Slots killed more kiwi than rabbits.  The kiwi population went from millions to now just 70,000.  Another interesting fact is that once the egg has hatched, adult kiwi just up and leave. They don't stick around to watch their kids grow.  With kiwi now being endangered, Rainbow Springs is doing all they can to incubate the eggs, raise the chicks, and then set them free into the wild.  It's a wonderful project!

Ok, you're probably so bored now :)

The only other thing I did today was go to the Polynesian Spa's thermal pools on Lake Rotorua.  I was thinking of going to Hell's Gate mud pools, but the thought of sitting in mud with a bunch of random people (who even knows what's in that mud…) didn't seem all that appealing.  The spa was beautiful -- there were 7 mineral pools all overlooking the lake -- but they were all very hot!  Hot pools + hot weather + hot and sweaty girl = not good.  After 30 minutes I had to get outta there.  I did meet some super cool people (German, English, Austrian, and one CA girl ;) from the "Stray" bus system who insisted that I come to their hostel later and have a drink.

By the time "later" came I was feeling so tired I could have gone to bed right then.  It was only 6 pm!!  Rich told me on skype that I should start taking power naps in the afternoon to get through the rest of the day.  I didn't feel like going out, but its been a week of traveling and I have been nothing but L-A-M-E after 7 pm.  So I pulled myself together and got my butt back outside to make my way over to the Lava Bar.  On my way out I saw Peter.  He had on black socks that came up to his knees and a floppy brimmed Indiana Jones adventure hat.  "Hey! Peter! Wanna come hang out at Lava and get a drink and some dinner?"  Would you believe it, that son of a gun turned me down!!  He said no, thank you, but he'd already had his dinner and was going to bed.  "See you at 8:30 in the morning! Don't miss the bus" he warned me.

I trekked the 15 minutes over to Lava for a cold drink and a free BBQ dinner and chatted for an hour with the kids.  Turns out every single one in the group plays an instrument!  Harmonica, piano, violin, accordion, guitar, flute, and last but certainly not least, the euphonium.  Too bad none of us had our gig on us, we could have jammed tonight! :)  After I had spent enough time "out" to where I wouldn't feel lame for leaving, I booked it back to my hostel.  Bed was calling me.

Plan:  hop on the Magic Bus to Taupo, can't decide wether I wanna skydive or go whitewater rafting… or both.  Either way I'll be spending the night at the beautiful Lake Taupo.

Budget:  $23 hostel, $10 internet card, $5 calling card, $2.50 bus , $35 Rainbow Springs, $25 Polynesian Spa thermal pools, $7 drink/dinner