Day 4

While at the Agrodome, we were able to see many different sheep breeds and they lined them up on a pyramid showing which was the most prominent breed down to the least popular.

 Kia-Ora! This is the saying that the Maori people say as a welcoming when they see people. Today we had a later start to the day, but everyone was able to enjoy their morning and find breakfast. Starbucks was a popular place for many. After loading the bus, we took a short bus ride to our first destination for the day, which was the Agrodome. This was a neat experience for the students. We got to learn about all the different sheep breeds that are popular around New Zealand. There was many different breeds present at the show that we attended and we got to see all the breeds in person. There was a lot of different looking sheep that we have not ever seen in the states. Additionally, we got to learn a little bit about the dairy industry and Serena was able to be one of the guests that got to go up on stage to milk a cow. Katy and Aubrina were also able to go on stage and feed the bottle lambs. After we watched the show in the dome, we were welcomed to go outside and watch a demonstration on a sheep dog herding the sheep.

There is many different landscapes here is New Zealand. This is one of the many pretty sceneries that we have seen along our way.

There were many different red trees that we were able to walk through and be able to enjoy some time out in nature.

Once we concluded our time at the Agrodome, we had some spare time. With that spare time, we were able to go the redwood forest. The red trees were introduced to the area in the early 20^th century from Europeans. While there we were able to explore the forest on the many different walking trails that were there and find some cool things within the forest, like mushrooms and such.

We started out the afternoon with a dairy farm visit. We visited the Tumunui Maori Lands Trust farm and got to talk to the milk sharer Matt. On the farm, they have 1,800 cows split between two farms. This farm varies from other dairy farms because they only milk once a day. The reason for that is because the paddocks are so hilly that it is hard on the cows to come to the rotary shed (milking parlor) twice a day. The cows have to walk almost 3 kilometers a day one way to get milked. 

While visiting the dairy, we were able to see a 60 rotary dairy shed. It takes just over 2 hours to milk 800 cows in this shed.

 The rotary shed milks 60 cows at a time and one rotation takes 7-10 minutes to be completed. The rotary shed that we visited milks 800 head a day. It also only takes 3 people to manage the mob (herd) and they can milk the whole mob in just over 2 hours. We also talked about the wages that the farm workers make while working for the dairy. Based on the experience of the worker, they will get paid between $55,000 to $58,000 NZ a year and the farm manager will make $120,000 NZ a year. The farm workers also get a benefit of a house on the farm with potentially owning their own dairy farm in the future. This was a great stop for us as we could compare and contrast this dairy from the dairy we visited yesterday. 

Mud pit- This is a location that many of the Māori people would visit. You could feel the heat when you were standing by it.

 

`Night Geyser- We were able to see the 4^th largest geyser erupt during the night with the cool night lighting hitting the steam.

Geyser picture- There were many great photo opportunities for the students. It was cool to be able to see the geysers erupt.

After making a quick stop at Lake Rotorua for some pictures we made our way to Te Puia New Zealand which is a tribal and geothermal area with geysers. We were able to learn a little bit more about the National bird which is the Kiwi and see 3 of them in person. There is currently 65,000 Kiwis left in the country which puts them on the endangered animal list. 

Mud pit- This is a location that many of the Māori people would visit. You could feel the heat when you were standing by it.

 We then made our way through the valley and were able to see a mud pit which is over 100 degrees Celsius (230 degrees Fahrenheit). Moving forward we then saw the main attraction which is the geysers. We were able to see small geysers erupt from ranges 1 to 5 meters high. After catching some cool photos, we made our way to supper which was buffet style and the students loved the pavlova which is a famous dessert down here. 

 

Celebration- while in the main hall we were able to watch the Māori people do their dances. It was interesting to see the many different pieces that go into these dances.

Once supper was concluded, we made our way to the courtyard and was able to learn more about the Maori culture. We were able to witness the formal greeting as well as making a peace offering. If the peace offering was accepted by the incoming tribe (in this case us tourists) they would welcome us to their main hall. Once in the main hall they showed us what they do for welcoming dances, dancing exercise and a love song. This was a great experience for the students to learn from and they enjoyed the experience. Before we left for the night, we made one last stop at the geysers. The largest geyser on the site was due to erupt while we were down there. The largest geyser is called pohutu and the eruption reaches over 100 feet in the sky. This makes it the 4^th largest geyser in the world. 

`Wood craving- This is the area where the students of the school learn how to wood crave. They attend the school for 2 years with an optional 3^rd year before they return back to their tribe to teach others about the trade.

Lastly, we also got to tour the school that is on site. The school is for the Maori people to learn different trades, those trades are weaving, wood carving and bone/rock carving. This is a highly sought-after school for the people to attend.

Kallista and Brennen