Before reaching Rotorua city, we stopped at Arataki, a honey producing centre and bought a few jars of NZ honey. Manuka honey is rather expensive and famous. I thought Manuka is a brand name and was surprised that it is a name of a kind of flowers where the bees get the honey. The flowers are white and so small. The bees must make thousands of trips to get honey from these tiny flowers. I like the taste of Manuka honey but I enjoy more of Pohutukawa flowers, NZ national flower, found in abundance in Bay of Plenty. This is another eye-opening for me - not to take honey for granted!
We stayed 2
days in Rotorua but still, there were many places we couldn't visit. There was a special kind of smell in Rotorua - scent of sulphur due to many geothermal hotspots found in many places in the city, even in the park. There are bubbling hot mud pools, geysers and warm pools and the air was smokey with sulphuric substance. Rotorua is really something different, no wonder it is so famous.
Rotorua Tourist Centre is already a welcome sight, unique in design. We checked in Cleveland Motel, a family owned motel with geothermal pool. That was the attraction. I wasted no time but quickly got into the warm pool at night when everyone was resting. The pool was mine alone. I felt like soaking my tired body for ever in there. The temperature is constant and so pleasant. It seems the geothermal pool is good to prevent meningitis. But Indra and Chom said they felt their bodies heavy and unsteady when they went in there and they got out fast. I didn't experience that effect but really enjoyed the warm temperature in a cold weather.
Rotorua Tourist Centre from the lake.
In this motel compound I saw 2 NZ national birds which are blue in colour with red beak called Pokeko. It's quite common and we saw a number along the road we travelled. From far I thought it is black but bright blue actually. There were a lot of roses too, blooming with variety of colours and of course my camera was full with roses taken at this motel.
That evening we spent our time at Rotorua Lake, clean and beautiful. I love to see the black swans swimming gracefully, sometimes they flocked together to get food thrown by visitors. There were so many different kinds of ducks - white, black, grey etc with generous number of seagulls. I was so fascinated by the scene and thought of Shah Alam Lake. The local authority, I heard, introduced a few ducks in the lake for people to enjoy but they disappeared the next day. I bet those ducks were sold and already on someone's plate. That's some Malaysian attitude - so selfishand uncivic minded.
A scenery of Lake Rotorua, NZ.
Lake Rotorua inhibited by ducks of different species.
Graceful black swans in Rotorua Lake.
The next day we spent our time at a Moari Village - Te Puia. We followed the free guided tour by Hannah who poked on us to pronounce the extraordinary long Moari word at the meeting spot. Here, when we introduced ourselves, 2 guys behind us said they are Malaysians, so we had a conversation. These 2 young guys are MAS staff on holiday in NZ - one is Mahathir, a pilot and the other is Hussin, an aircraft engineer.
Te Puia is an amazing place.I was fascinated by its geysers, mudpools and the pungent sulphuric smell. It didn't bother me. I remember visiting Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, USA. witnessing the spurt of Old Faithful every 3 or so minutes. Old Faithful is a geyser which has not let visitors down and faithfully shoots out every 3 minutes at the dot. There are a number of geysers in Te Puai but they spurt out 3-4 times within an hour. It's really exciting hearing the hissing sound when they spurt out - one after another.
Hannah showed us the manuka plant which amazed me, for I can't imagine how the bees managed to suck the honey in such tiny white flowers. No wonder manuka honey costs a little more than the others.
At the area where geysers, mudpools and hotsprings were, there were cemented platform where anyone can sit or lie down and feel the warmth of the geothermal activities underneath. We lay down comfortably.
A geyser spurts out at Te Puai.
Chom and Indra at the geothermal hotspots.
At the Moari stage show which we paid NZ$45 each, I salute those people in charge for being firm towards tourists. I think they have a lot of experience dealing with stubborn tourists who refused to follow instruction. A group of Chinese people seemed oblivious of the instruction to not rush and push. They rushed and pushed and made so much noise. Everybody was told to take off their shoes and the men were to sit in front seats and ladies at the back. Repeated instructions were given, they disregarded it, so much so, the staff got annoyed. I would too.
According to Moari custom, a leader of a group has to come forward at the welcoming ceremony. An Irish man was appointed to represent the group of tourists. After the ha, ha ceremony, they rubbed noses and welcomed us in. That was where the rushing and pushing happened whereas there were so many seats available. I have watched Moari dances on TV and so it wasn't so extraordinary to me. I wished they could offer more!
The Moari show wasn't spectacular but I volunteered to get on th stage to dance a Moari dance. It wasn't bad actually and I had fun!
Indra doing the Moari dance at the storing house.
The Moari dance show at Te Puai.
Our day 0n 28 March in Rotorua was full of activities and fun. Immediately after Te Puai we decided to go to Paradise Valley Springs to see lion - feeding. I wasn't excited to see lion -feeding actually as I have seen it in Indonesia and feeding tigers in The Lost World of Tambun, Perak. So, I thought it was nothing to shout about. But I was in for a surprise. Feeding the lions at Paradise Valley Spring was something you have to see. There were 8 lions with one dominant male and a very old lioness. The keeper threw lumps of meat over the fence and the lions scuttled to get it. Of course the huge male lion had control. I felt sorry for an old lioness who hid herself and didn't go 
for the food. Everyone was concerned. But this old lioness had a strategy. She let everyone scrambled and fought for the meat first and she just watched patiently. Finally when every lion was full, she quietly went for it. Smart girl!! These lions need 30 kilos of meat everyday.
Paradise Valley Springs itself is a paradise. The park is cool and green with exciting plants and animals. We saw 2 boys with 2 huge trouts. In the park, there were plentiful of rainbow trouts swimming in the clean, clear river. They were so big!! The park doesn't allow fishing but outside the park, the river offers abundant trouts.
There are many other animals for visitors to enjoy. This ram is cute. He followed us expecting food and he loved eating from our hands.
With a ram at Paradise Valley Springs Park, NZ.
The walk in Paradise Valley was heaven. There are different types of ferns there but the ferns there were hard and stiff, not like ours. At one look, one may say it is plastic. The ferns grow so well and healthy.
Feeding the black swans in Paradise Valley Springs.
Sheep herding demonstration at Agrodome.
We left Paradise valley Springs to go to Agrodome Park but unfortunately it was late and almost closing time. We managed to see a demostration on sheep dog doing his work - herding sheep in the pen. The dog was smart and agile, trained to thrill the audience. After the show he came straight to the people to be pat or be admired until his owner whistled for him to heel. This sheep dog is adorable and amazing. It would be great fun to see a real sheep dog at work.It was a full day for us. I was tired but happy and satisfied with the experience and the fun I had. We went back to Cleveland Motel and I soaked myself again in the geothermal pool there, feeling relaxed and fresh.
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