It’s amazing to me just how many of the things in Rotorua are related to the fact that it is a geothermal spot. (This is probably a good time to mention that Rotorua smells like rotten eggs because of all of the sulfur in the air. You get pretty used to it, but sometimes it just sneaks up on you and you get a very strong whiff all of a sudden.) They also had a “Kiwi House” at Te Puia, so we got to see our first Kiwi bird. Since they are nocturnal animals, they are kept in a house where the time is simulated. When it is noon, the Kiwi birds think that it is midnight - that way the tourists can get to see the birds! We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but they are very funny looking creatures. They are these large brown fluffy things with very long beaks. They can’t fly so they just waddle around.Our next stop was to the “Agrodome Sheep Show.” In case you are not aware, the sheep to human ratio in New Zealand is 10:1 (the highest per capita of any country in the world), so sheep are a pretty big thing here. We were a little early for the show, so we got to walk around and see all of the sheep up close. I even kissed one! (Kind of gross, I know.) When the show started, they brought all 19 of the different breeds of sheep up on stage. Then, they did a demonstration of a sheep shearing, which was interesting to watch. I felt sort of bad for the sheep though, because he looked so scared afterwards. The guy said that after being sheared, the sheep feel very embarrassed and cold. The guy then did this thing where he was pretending to hold a sheep auction, yelling out in an auctioneer’s voice. He had people raising their hands to “bid” and somehow the next thing I knew I was being called up on stage to pay for the 4 sheep I had supposedly just bought! He told me I owed $700 and when I said I didn’t have any money, he wanted to know how else I could pay. Since I didn’t have much to offer, he asked me to take my jacket off and went through my pockets, where he found my wallet! It was all a joke of course, but I did walk off stage with a little stuffed animal of a sheep.
Next, he asked for 3 volunteers to come onstage to try their hand at milking a cow. Kelly, Cate and one of the Loyola boys got to go up onstage. They all got the hang of it pretty quickly, but seemed a little grossed out by it! After the show was over, we got the chance to hold baby lambs. They were adorable! 
We had lunch at the Agrodome and ironically enough, they served grilled lamb chops. Believe it or not, this was my first time eating lamb in New Zealand. The lamb chops were actually delicious, but some people were a little unnerved by the fact that we had JUST held lambs and were now eating them (obviously not the same ones though!).Right after lunch, we headed off to go Zorbing. (Not the BEST planning to have this activity immediately follow lunch, but oh well!) Now, for anyone not familiar with Zorbing, they best way to describe it is a human hamster ball. You roll down a hill with 3 people in a giant inflatable ball which has a little bit of water inside. There is a hole in one side that you squeeze through to get inside. Then you stand up and try to start running (like a hamster wheel) but it is impossible to stay standing. So then you just fall down and are sloshing around in the bottom. I went down with Kelly and Kim and we were pretty much just laughing like crazy the whole way down. This was definitely a unique experience to say the least!
Next, we went to Rainbow Springs, which was a zoo-type place with fish and birds. I was exhausted by this time of the day and to be honest, I didn’t pay much attention to what the tour guide was telling us about the different types of fish. We did get to see another Kiwi bird though. Seeing these birds twice in one day could definitely be considered a rarity because even though they are the national bird, they are not spotted very often. Unfortunately afterwards, we had to sit through another lecture, about Maori tourism this time. I felt bad for the lecturer, because the things he was telling us about the Maori culture were mostly things we had heard numerous times already, and everyone was pretty bored, myself included. After the lecture, we were able to go back to the hotel and had about an hour and a half before dinner. Most of us put this time to excellent use by taking a much needed nap!When we went downstairs for dinner, we were met with a huge array of food. Most of it was actually quite good, especially the desserts. We stuffed ourselves again – it was hard not to on this trip, since all of our meals were already paid for! After dinner, we headed over to the Polynesian Spa, which has 35 different hot mineral pools. It was really fun just relaxing in the hot water. The different pools were supposed to be good for different ailments. We spent most of our time in the one designed to relieve joint and muscle pain. I have to say that it was a very relaxing experience, despite the fact that we all smelled disgustingly of sulfur when we were done.
When we had had enough, we headed back to shower off. Then we all got ready to go out to celebrate Timm’s birthday. We hung around for a while listening to Nick and Timm play the guitar and bongo before going to a bar called “The Grumpy Mole” – Timm’s choice!
The final day was pretty low key. We filled up on breakfast before heading to the Skyline Gondola – a cable car ride which afforded a beautiful view over Lake Rotorua and the surrounding area. The highlight was that Loyola paid for one luge ride per person. We got to ride on a track a little ways down the mountain and then take a ski lift back up. 
The luge was similar to alpine slides that I have been on, except the track was flatter and wider and you got to steer! It was pretty challenging at times, because you definitely felt like you were going to flip over coming around some of the curves (and one girl from our group DID wipe out)! It was tons of fun though, and we all opted to pay for a second ride so that we could try out the advanced track (because you had to go down the intermediate one your first time).
We had our final buffet meal – lunch with a gorgeous view. Then we headed back down in the cable cars, and boarded the bus for our ride back. Linda the bus driver dropped us off at the top of the hill (NOT out front of our apartment building) so we were all traipsing down the street with our luggage. I imagine it was quite a funny sight! Well, that concludes our trip. It was pretty sad to think that we won’t have any more trips with ALL of Loyola (not to mention the fact that it was our last free trip!) But I’m sure it won’t be the last of our adventures! Right now, we’ve passed the 2 month mark. It’s hard to believe all of the amazing things I have seen and done in that time.
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