Sheep, Ducks, Geysers, and Maori

(I may be having an issue with the date and time of this blog posting.  To be clear, I'm posting it on March 16, 5:50 p.m., New Zealand time.)

We attended an interesting attraction today in Rotorua.  There is a venue called the Agrodome, where we saw many sheep and a shearing display.  Sheep are cute; who wouldn't like them?  But, I had no idea there were so many different kinds.  There were maybe 20 different kinds of sheep on a stage--big, little, horned, long wool, short wool--all kinds.  A man described them all, then brought one out to shear.  It was amazing to see how completely relaxed the sheep was as it was being sheared.

All different kinds of sheep were on this stage.

Our group then went on a Duck ride--one of those WW II amphibious vehicles that can be driven on the land or in the water.  There are several nice lakes near here, and we went into two of them.

John and I, quacking

Lin and I, in the Duck

In the afternoon, we went to a place called Te Puia.  It's a Maori cultural center that is in an area of several geysers, mud pools, and warm and hot ponds.  We had a tour of the steamy area, and then attended an entertaining Maori concert.  The performers, in traditional dress, sang and danced for us, and explained what they were doing.  They were very talented.  After that, we had a hangi, which is a traditional Maori feast.  The meal--meat and vegetables--had been cooked for us on top of hot rocks.  There was lots of food and more Maori songs--a really nice evening.

Steamy geyser at Te Puia

Maori concert

We had rain most of the day, but the sky seems to be clearing now that we're back to the hotel.  I think tomorrow will be sunny.

I can mention one more couple.  John and Jean live in England.  In a couple of days, they're leaving our tour group and going to Tasmania, where their son lives with his Australian wife and 3 little grandchildren.