After a long 14-1/2 hour direct flight on Air New Zealand from Vancouver, we arrived in the morning in Auckland. Crossing the International Dateline meant that we skipped an entire day ahead, meaning that having left on Sunday from Toronto, it was now Tuesday when we touched down in Auckland.
We picked up our rental car and as we were spending our first night at a farm on the way to Rotorua, about an hour south of Auckland, we decided to stop at the supermarket right near the airport and do our shopping.
New Zealand Customs are very strict about food of any description being brought into New Zealand. All food must be declared to Customs on arrival in New Zealand or dumped in the rubbish bins in the Arrival Hall. The penalties for false declarations are very heavy and the goods may be confiscated as well. So we decided that we would enter the country without any food in our luggage whatsoever and now we had to stock up.
We were armed with our copy of Kosher Kiwi, the guide to Kosher Food in NZ that is published by the Orthodox Jewish Community in Auckland.
So here we were walking up the aisles in the supermarket looking for tuna, mayo, peanut butter, bread etc., and as we were looking at labels, a fellow approached us. He was dressed with only pants, no shirt, no shoes and his entire upper torso was covered in tattoos. We learned over the next few days that being covered in tattoos and walking barefoot was the norm in NZ. He looked at us and said "looking for kosher? perhaps I can help you"; and pointing to a magen david tattooed on his shoulder, proceeded to tell us that he was also Jewish!!! Amazing.
We shopped and we found enough to keep us satiated; and we began the drive south on the North Island towards Shailer's Dairy Farm and Bed and Breakfast near the town of Hamilton.
We arrived at this beautiful bungalow on a farm, the home being on the high ground overlooking acres of rolling hills with large hills overlooking the farm. The garden in front of the house had beautiful flowers and we checked in. It was a very beautiful B & B with every convenience we could have hoped for.
We unpacked and wanting to stay awake till the evening at least for fear of being hit with major jet lag, we decided to head out and visit the glow worm caves of Waitomo. The caves are enormous and you go thru the caves on a boat. Entering the dark areas of the cave, you begin to see the worms glowing in the dark. The glow worm is unique to New Zealand. Thousands of these tiny creatures radiate their unmistakable luminescent light.
When we returned to the house, it was getting dark, so we ate a quick meal on the patio outside our room and hit the sack for some well deserved sleep.
In the morning, we awoke to mist hovering on the hills surrounding the house.
After we ate breakfast (basically cereal, juice, and coffee), we went on a tour
of the farm with the owner Charlie, who took us on a tractor ride all over the hills of the farm, returning to the barn to assist in the milking of the cows. The milking of the cows was a highlight for us. They provided us with boots and overalls and it was a real blast!
What an experience! When we ended our trip and created a slideshow of our trip to NZ, we sent a link to Charlie and Dianna and they loved it so much that they use it till today as an ad for their farm. Here it is!
We said goodbye to Charlie and Dianna and headed toward Rotorua. but on the way, we stopped at the Agrodome. Located just 10 kms north of the Rotorua CBD, the Agrodome is home to the famous live sheep shearing show.
New Zealand has more sheep than people. In fact there are only 4 million people on the two islands that make up the country; there are over 43 million sheep. They are literally everywhere. The agrodome also has 19 breeds of rams, lamb feeding, and sheep dog demonstrations. It is quite commercial but very interesting.
We also went on the Organic Farm Tour for a hands on experience with a variety of farm animals including Cattle, Deer, Alpaca, Bison, Ostrich, Sheep and much more.
Here you could get up close and personal with the animals and we were amazed to see just how thick a sheep's wool really is. You can literally get your hands to disappear in the wool!
We continued on to the town of Rotorua. The city has the nickname Sulphur City because of the hydrogen sulphide emissions which gives the city a rotten eggs smell. All around the city, there are bubbling pools where you can see puffs of smoke emanating from the ground; it's almost like a crater that is ready to erupt.
We visited the famous Polynesian Spa, where you can rent a private sulphur pool. It is really not a pool but a sunken patio on the banks of the Rotorua Lake. The lake has a high concentration of sulphur and bathing in it is supposed to do wonders for your skin.
The earliest inhabitants of New Zealand were the Maori people. They came by canoe from eastern Polynesia in the 12th century. They developed their own culture, language, religion, crafts and arts. They formed tribes and there were many tribal conflicts and wars, with a Maori warrior culture emerging.
The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, which means the Land of the Long White Cloud.
Everywhere you can see Maori warrior symbols and figurines as in the sculpture below.
In the late afternoon, we headed north to the largest city Auckland, with its recognizable Sky Tower needle (sort of reminds you of the CNTower in Toronto). We stayed overnight in a lovely B & B on the edge of downtown.
In the morning we walked to the Victoria Park Market, housed in an restored old refuse station that was built over 100 years ago. It now is home to quaint little boutiques and shoppes that featured many local handicrafts.
Auckland also has a very large and picturesque harbor. We walked the harbor and the downtown area.
We then headed over to the Auckland Museum home to the most extensive collection of Maori treasures in the world. We attended the Maori Cultural Experience, a theatre type presentation of Maori song, dance, sports, warrior cries and the famous tongue extending HAKA.
In the morning I had gone to the shul to daven, and now late in the day, we returned to tour the shul and have lunch at the only kosher restaurant on the North Island. We had assumed at the time that there were no other kosher restaurants in the entire country, but were pleasantly surprised to find one at our next stop in Christchurch, which you will read about in one of the next postings.
We stocked up on some kosher items in the shul store and said goodbye to Auckland and the North Island and headed over to the airport for a short flight to our next stop Christchurch on the east side of the South Island.
To be continued.....
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