Week 3: Feeling "Sheep"ish
- Bryce Bozadjian
- Jul 24, 2017
- 7 min read
Hello faithful readers!
Last night I returned from a weekend getaway to Rotorua, which is about an hour and a half bus ride south of Hamilton. I've decided to post blog updates on Monday (Sunday in the States) from now on because I was too tired last night to upload and edit the photos and to write this. Hopefully my blog will brighten up your Mondays! :)
Week:
My Maori class is very overwhelming because I have zero experience and haven't grown up hearing the pronunciations. I end up answering the professor's questions in Spanish in my head! I'll definitely be taking advantage of the tutorials and more one-on-one guidance.
Speaking of tutorials, I had my first philosophy tut, and it was chill. Basically we split into small groups and filled out a worksheet.
I signed up for a month-long gym membership (missing ASU where it's free </3) and have been working out a bit. I did a bums, tums, and thighs group exercise class last Wednesday that was challenging and fun! Tonight I did a yoga class (RIP hamstrings.)
There are two cases of mumps in Student Village! Thankfully I've been vaccinated; but generally, I don't think vaccinations are a big thing here.
They literally fed us French Fries ("wedges") with sour cream, cheese, and marinara sauce for lunch one day. How is that a meal?! I miss Becky-made salads!
There's an election in September this year and it's fascinating to hear about the different parties and how people feel about the government.
My block did secret admirer and I got mine ice cream and sushi and received Tim Tams!!
Weekend:
On Saturday, I finally escaped the monotony (sorry Hamilton) of campus! My friend Justice and I brought a backpack each and took a bus to the Transport Center in central Hamilton. We then hopped on an Intercity bus that took us to Rotorua.
When we arrived we got some Thai food at a restaurant on the main road, Fenton Street. I got Pad Thai with the tiniest shrimp in it – I'm talking the size of my pinky nail! Justice got fried rice. It was yum!
The entire town of Rotorua smells like eggs because it's a geothermal region. I'm sure the locals are used to the smell but it was strong and Justice and I would get a waft and gag a little. You can see steam rising in the parks and out of random gurgling spots around the town, which is neat!
Farm Show:
After our meal we took the bus to The Agrodome, a working farm with a variety of animals. I was super excited, to say the least! We got a good deal by paying for the farm tour and getting the farm show for free. We explored the gift shops and then went to the farmyard nursery, where we met and pet giant bunnies and adorable lambs! There were also ducks, a cool old sheepdog who remained asleep the entire time, and a milking cow.
Shane is part of the family who started Agrodome in 1970, and he was the funny and entertaining host of the farm show. Justice and I were the only two Americans there! The other people (I'd estimate there were over 100) were mostly from South Korea, Taiwan, China, and New Zealand, with a handful from Mexico and Europe.
We learned about 19 different kinds of the over 14 million sheep located in New Zealand and I tried to take notes but Shane was a fast talker! In New Zealand, the Romney sheep is the most populous. There are also 50,000 Black Romneys in NZ (the one they showed us was named Charlie Brown.) We saw a sheep named Duke run to the stage out of turn, get escorted back, and then jump the fence to come onto stage. Another cool sheep was Bruce, a South African breed, who has self-shearing wool – it falls out on its own!
Shane demonstrated how to shear a sheep, which involves making them "sit" and lean backwards so they don't run away or freak out. He said that unless you know what you're doing, you can easily cut the sheep's skin. He was super efficient and the sheep was literally flopping around not caring. Shane made sure to inform everyone that shearing is not painful and that the position he puts the sheep in does not harm them. He proceeded to throw some wool into the crowd and I grabbed some!
There was some fun audience participation with kids feeding the lambs milk and people milking the cow, and everyone was really into it. We saw the herding dogs do their thing – super cool! Even though they bark a lot, the sheep aren't scared, just attentive. We saw a bunch of dogs "backing", which is when they run on top of the sheeps' backs and even sit on them! After the show I went up and pet some of the sheep and the dogs who are so well-trained (Emmett should take note).
Farm Tour:
The weather took a turn for the worse but thankfully, the farm tour was covered as we were pulled by a tractor around the 350-acre farm. The back two wheels of the tractor were filled with water so it doesn't slip in the mud or tip over on hills. We saw chickens, turkeys, donkeys (and a foal!) pigs (and piglets!), ducks (and ducklings!), sheep (and lambs!), and many types of cows (and calves!) The only cow name I remember is called an Oreo cow in America for obvious reasons.
We got to hand-feed sheep and alpacas! There was a 23-year-old lady alpaca who gets spoiled because she's so old. They were quite soggy from the rain and eager to eat. We saw a one-day-old lamb and its mom (see picture at top)! Of course, we couldn't pet it for fear of its mom rejecting it because of the human smell. The tour guide, whose name escapes me, let us try kiwi juice and honey made at Agrodome; it was almost creamy, and really good.
We then got to pick kiwis, saw kunekune (which means "fat and round") pigs and piglets, saw emus and ostriches, and lots of ducklings. The ostrich eggs were massive!
Fun Fact: Emus can run up to 50 km/hour or 31 MPH!
Rabbits were introduced to New Zealand for hunting but then did what rabbits do and overpopulated, so they brought in rodent predators to eat them. That effort failed, so now there is an abundance of rodents in NZ.
Justice and I watched the three Clydesdales pull the wagon around but didn't want to pay extra for the ride. Their names are Jon Boy, Cid, and Egon, and they are beautiful!
At this point I had seen most of my favorite types of animals including dogs and horses, but was searching for a barn cat. AND I FOUND ONE. AND SHE WAS PREGNANT AND MAJESTIC. And purred a lot and let me pet her!
All in all, The Agrodome was super fun (probably more for me than Justice because I'm a farm freak) and we learned a lot!
While we waited for the bus to take us back to Rotorua, an Agrodome employee named Ata offered us a ride to our hostel, which we took. Don't worry – she's a mother of two young kids and only in her mid-twenties. She offered advice on where to eat and what to check out in town. I can now say I've hitchhiked!
Justice and I checked into our hostel called Rock Solid Backpackers, which fittingly had a massive rock climbing wall! We went to Eat Streat for dinner at Leonardo's Pure Italian. All the seafood was fresh and the pasta homemade, so I was in heaven. I ordered a seafood and spaghetti dish and lucked out with it being the chef's last one before he ran out of ingredients! The mussels were HUGE and it was delicious. I washed it down with a sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. We got ice cream (I got hokey pokey with chocolate-covered hokey pokey pieces in it) and happily and tiredly returned to our hostel, which took a bit because we got lost.
We were exhausted and I passed out at 11PM. The room was clean, although it smelled like stinky feet, and we shared it with four others. For my first hosteling experience it was good; not too loud and not sketchy. Poor insomniac Justice (who also was recovering from the flu) didn't have as good of a time. She's a trooper!
Sunday
The next morning we checked out around 9AM; we didn't really get to talk to any other backpackers because we were so tired the night before and left in the morning. We were still pretty knackered (à la Kiwi) and went to the Fat Dog Café for brunch. I had eggs benedict with smoked salmon and hash browns and Justice got raspberry pancakes. It was delicious and very filling!
Sore from all the walking with our heavy backpacks, we went to Government Gardens and casually strolled around the scenic landscape. We saw Rachel Springs, a thermal pool that reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. We took pictures and enjoyed the rare sunny day. Then we went for a half hour walk to Sulphur Point, which gave us great views of Lake Rotorua, various thermal areas, and islands (one of which was a bird sanctuary.) We saw black swans and someone parasailing!
After sunning ourselves for a while and walking back to the center of town, we got coffee and figured out what to do with our remaining hours. I had really wanted to go to Kerosene Creek, a free hot spring, but you can only get there via car and taxis are expensive. We decided to take a bus to Whakarewarewa Forest to see the Redwoods. Yeah, I have no clue how to say that name either.
We walked around the pretty area and met many doggos, and then returned to town, got some McDonald's, and waited for the bus. I didn't think the burger from McDonald's tasted different, but the fries were more buttery. The bus was full so Justice and I had to sit apart. The lady I sat next to was a flight attendant for Air New Zealand and talked non-stop (no pun intended) about where to travel to in Australia, how Fiji was overrated, where she had lived throughout the years, her cat that she shows, her many trips to America, etc, etc. She was nice but also a bit of a snob ("I was so nervous to take this bus; I usually get the gold seats and stay in five star hotels") but the bus ride went by quickly. My podmate Blake picked us up and drove us back to campus, which concluded our weekend trip to Rotorua.
It was a tiring but fun weekend and now that I've done one excursion, I can't wait for many more!
Next Up: Rapurapu Kaimai Kauri Walk & Glowworm Caves! Or visiting Tauranga with Isaac & Justice! Only way to find out what I do is to read next week's blog! :)
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