We drove from Rotorua to Napier stopping at the Agrodome Farm for a tour and show.
The show was inside on wooden benches. There were earphones with several translations. It was pretty full as several tour buses were pulled up outside when we arrived. We saw a sheep getting sheared and learned about the competitions that sheep shearers have for the fastest sheep sheared (amazing!). Bits of wool were passed around so we could feel it. And actually there is a strong odour to wool as well. A strong sheep smell. We watched more than dozen different types of sheep get led in onto a pyramid platform and settle down to munch their treats (or try to steal from their neighbours). We went up to these sheep to touch the different types of wool and they are very, very different. We saw baby lambs (wagging their tails furiously) get bottle fed by several volunteer children. And we saw dogs run across the backs of the sheep (although one very loud dog didn't want to obey but kept racing in and back up onto the stage. Almost saying "Look at me! Look at me!"). The dogs herded some ducks around the stage. It was fun and informative.
We popped into the back of the petting zoo and touched several baby animals including rabbits, chicks and lambs.
Afterwards, we got onto a tourist car (benches in a row) that was towed by a tractor. The tractor took us around the farm, stopping at different spots to let us out and feed the animals. We saw different kinds of cows (most of the meat gets shipped to the States for hamburgers), deer, llamas, pigs, and sheep. We learned about the types of soil, some of the invasive plant species, what people hunt (deer and boar), and how the farm came to be. We stopped halfway to try some manuka honey (which comes from bees hanging around the NZ manuka bush. Australians really wanted some of this honey but the borders were too tight to import it, so they took some bushes home and now cultivate Australian manuka honey there. Of course, the bushes don't grow as well, so the honey isn't as good - or so we were told. I laughed a bit because the attitude that NZ has towards Australia reminds me a lot of how Canada views the States - a big, overbearing sibling who has a bigger population and clout but doesn't always make the best decisions). We also had some fresh kiwi juice which Lucy really liked.
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| Kiwi fruit |
We continued on the farm tour with another brief stop to gather some fujioas. Some what? Yeah, I didn't know what they were either so we scrambled with the other tourists and found some green fruit under the trees. What are we supposed to do with these? Thankfully, a man with his son in front of us showed us how to crack it open and suck out the juicy insides. It was okay, a bit citrusy but different. We also saw the lines of vines hanging in arbours with golden kiwi fruit. Ah ha! The light bulb goes on! That was what we saw growing in rows as we were traveling along - it wasn't grapes but kiwi fruit!
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| Our lunch as we travelled |
We finished with a bit of shopping and headed back onto the road headed to Napier.
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| A deer on the farm |
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| A cow on the farm |
We visited with Sarah and Hunter and their two children, Isla and Russell. We had a delicious meal (which included fujioa fruit for dessert) and a nice visit.
James and I went out to a movie in the evening which was shown in an old theatre. It was a gorgeous building! Red carpet, chandeliers, a bar on the top floor, comfy seats, intricate ceilings and long red curtains. Best movie experience I've ever had. They were advertising "Beauty and the Beast" with a rose display.
At the airport was the giant dragon, Smaug, from The Hobbit. It would occasionally open one eye to look at you, which delighted the kids. Hannah would sneak quietly on tip toe up to the dragon, wait for the eye to open, and then run yelling back to us. Allison and Lucy did the same thing (although Hannah continued doing it over and over for much longer).
