Tuesday, January 24th

We arrived in Tauranga at 6:00 am. and had a wakeup call at 6:30 am.  We went up to breakfast at 7:15 am and met with everyone to tour Tauranga at 8:00 am.  Our bus driver today is Warrick.  He drove us to the Township of Rotorua.  It is the oldest and best known resort city in the country.  It is a Geothermal Wonderland!  It smells a bit like sulphur or rotten eggs!  Our guide told us that A.J. Hacette invented bungee jumping when on vacation he jumped off the Eiffel Tower.  We drove for about 1.5 hours and went to the Agrodome where they do sheep shearing.  We got to see 19 breeds of sheep and watch as they sheared one.  It was pretty amazing.  Then we headed up to Te Puia Thermal Reserve.  We took a tour of the Maori Heritage and watched a live performance/dance.  We saw Kiwi Birds and hiked down to the Pohutu Geyser where there were pools of boiling mud and steam vents.  On the way back to the ship we stopped and rode the Skyline Gondola Cableway to the top of Mount Ngongotaha where we enjoyed views of Lake Rotorua and had lunch.  We drove back to the ship in just enough time to set sail. 

Tonight we have a special cocktail party in the Wheelhouse Lounge for Jim Chesler’s 65^th birthday.  Happy Birthday Jim!

Tauranga, NZ facts:

In 1838 James Farrow started Tauranga.  Kiwi is their native language besides English.  The official language is also Braile.  Tauranga exports timber to Korea and many other things such as oil to the USA.  The urban population is 21,000 and the total population is 103,000.  It has grown 26% over the past 10 years.  This is the largest port in NZ.  The houses cost about $450,000 for just about ½ acre of land.  There are many retired people who live here.  It is the 9^th largest city in NZ.  “White Island” is their active volcano.  Angelican Religion is mostly used as well as Catholic.  There is a large amount of Kiwi Orchards on the island.  Kiwi plant have male and female versions and they have to plant a male every 10-12 feet!  The locals call the “hills”…..”lumpy”!  They are called the “Shaky Isles” from earthquakes.

They blend Alpaca and Possum fur to make sweaters, hats & scarves.  They have a “Unity Authority” in Rotorua because they don’t want to be known as a city.  The Kiwi Birds are extinct and nocturnal.  Tauranga is located in the “Bay of Plenty”.  They have 32 million sheep, 8 million cows and export about 3 billion dollars worth of oil.