A Consummate Kiwi Experience

Saturday

Sherry was up early with Ro and made porridge (i.e. oatmeal) for everyone. She and Cerine went grocery shopping since our cupboards were bare, while Mark watched Ro and called down to the front desk for our rollaway bed. With only about a week left in her travels down under, Cerine wanted to head for the luge in Rotorua, something Norma & Carver were definitely not interested in. Barnaby was staying with Craig this weekend, so we decided to make it a group outing. There were seven of us including Paulette, so we had to take separate cars. Ro was excited to ride with Barnaby in Craig's car. Mark would have gone with them and let Sherry drive the women in our Camry if he'd known ahead of time that Cerine and Sherry were going to subject him to excruciatingly detailed conversation about Twilight the entire ride down.

State Hwy 36 under repairs from the rockfall

Technically, you have to be six years old or 110cm tall to ride a luge by yourself. Barnaby is six, but we didn't fancy the row that would ensue if we let him go by himself and not Ronan. So, Mark and Craig took a chance and got both kids their own full-fledged tickets (as opposed to tandem ones) and let them have a go. The girls led off on the Scenic track, with the kids following and the men bringing up the rear. Ro seemed to have the hang of it at first, but soon as someone passed him he got frustrated and stopped in the middle of the track, backing up traffic behind him. Craig and Mark tried to assist him in holding the handlebars back so the thing would go, but we gave up after about 100 feet as that just made Ro more upset. Mark guided him over to a small side track, ditched Ro's luge, and let him ride tandem. Once we were flying down the hill, passing other people as usual, he was happy again. So much for that experiment.

Barnaby, Craig, Paulette, & the Hills above Lake Rotorua

Ready to ride!

Ro starting off by himself on a crowded track

Although Barnaby stuck it out by himself, his glacial pace was less than fun for him or Craig, so once we all got to the bottom we cancelled the idea of further solo rides for the kids. The racing that followed on the Intermediate and Advanced (sans kids) tracks was a complete blast. The kids were even getting into it. Barnaby and Craig won the first race against Mark and Ro, eliciting joy from Barnaby and pouting from Ro. Ro got revenge the next race riding with Sherry, positively smoking Paulette and Barnaby. Craig, the most experienced luger among us, was dominant most of the afternoon, save for the last and best race of the day, as it was the only one with two passes. Usually once you're passed, it's over. Craig and Barnaby caught up to Mark when he got held up behind a slowpoke, then they bumped side-to-side for a good 100 feet, driving each other into the side rails. Craig had the better line, though, and eventually pulled ahead. With both luges laying plastic streaks on the track from skidding on their frames around the turns faster than they were meant to go, Mark flew past them on the final big drop just before the track narrowed to single file, with a few more bumps on both sides thrown in for good measure. And he has the bruises to show for it.

Mark and the boys goofing around

The girls talkin' trash

Cerine passing under our chairlift

There's a nice souvenir shop at the top of the gondola, and Cerine picked up a few possum-fur nipple warmers and other assorted kiwiana (i.e. kitsch) to give as gag gifts back home. It was getting late, and the weather had turned drizzly, so Craig, Paulette, and Barnaby headed for home while we went down the road to grab dinner at Subway. After dinner, we came back to Rainbow Springs, hoping to see some kiwi birds once it got dark. We had bought a year pass last time we were there, and we sweet-talked the clerk into letting Cerine in for free, too. Like last time, Ro expended most of his fish food on the ducks as soon as we walked in.

Besieged!

Sherry admiring the mute swans

As night was falling, many of the exhibits such as the farm animals were closed. Ro loved the huge rainbow trout, and the even bigger eels. Feeding the ducks out of his hand was fun, and a couple of them became quite enamored of him, following him all around the park. They know an easy mark when they see one, eh? His favorite animal, though, turned out to be Jenny, a noisy Kea bird (a huge NZ parrot), who he constantly raced back and forth along the edge of her enclosure. The sight of Ro and the bird hopping along simultaneously, mirroring each other for a good ten minutes, was simply hilarious. A passing elderly couple took one look at the comical scene and correctly noted, "The bird will get tired of it first."

Ro took this one of us with the Moa

Jenny liked the taste of Cerine's hair

Eventually it got dark enough to finally see some kiwis! Kiwis are skittish, and not fond of light, so you had to be really quiet, and turn off the flash on your camera. Ro really got into the whole experience, even shushing a couple of jabbering Japanese tourists! The outdoor enclosures were only lit by a few dim overhead bulbs no brighter than a child's nightlight, so taking pictures was an exercise in frustration. Kiwis don't sit still for very long, so any shutter speed quick enough to freeze their movement simply resulted in a brownish-black blob on a black background. Even so, it was a real treat to watch several of these amazing birds up close for a good 45 minutes!

The best of about 50 shots of the kiwis, believe it or not

Rainbow Springs is illuminated in color at night

We got home just after 10pm. Ro slept most of the way, and didn't even wake up when we carried him upstairs and put him in bed. Thankfully, our rollaway was waiting for us when we got home. We relaxed with drinks and then tea and TimTams. Cerine has already bought about a half-dozen packages of them to take back to the States! Count yourself lucky if you are one of the chosen few who'll get some...those things are addictive.