Our first stop on our tour were the Limestone Caves and the Glowworm Caves. My favorite part were the glowworms because riding in the boat through the river and looking up at the glowworm infested ceiling which produced a bright blue color. The Limestone Caves were cool too. The Limestone caves were filled with these limestone drizzle castles, like you would find at the beach.
Next, we drove another two hours to a farm, Agrofarm. At the farm we were able to watch a sheep dog in action, get a tour of the farm, feed the animals, and watch our guide shier a sheep.
The third part of our excursion was the hot springs and the Maori cultural experience. The Maori part of the tour showed some of there traditional dances and instruments, and I was also able to learn the Haka. The Haka is a war ritual that the Maori used to perform and currently the New Zealand All Blacks perform before each game. The hot spring's were next the first one we went to was a big gorge that when ready spued warm water way out into the sky. That is created by steam underground trying to get to the surface and on the way blocked by rock and water but when the water gets to the surface it is forced to push out a crevice in the surface then refill again with water. After the hot springs we traveled over to the weaving and carving schools. There we could see weavings and carvings that people had made. All the weavings for matts, bags, clothes, all come from flax.
When we got back to Auckland we had dinner at a Thai place near where we were staying. As we sat outside a guy in a muscle car pulls up just a few feet away from us in the middle of the street and lays down a screeching donut in the middle of the road. It was awesome!
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