Thursday, 24 February, 2005

I was up about 6:10 and Mom knocked on the door at about 6:30. I finished up my packing, remembering various things like Claratin, shoes, the video camera (although I don't think I ended up bringing it). I had a leisurely breakfast while everyone else was packing and then got everything down to the car. I rode in the back with the girls. It is a small car, so we were pretty tight. There was enough space to cram a pillow between Emily and Elizabeth as a separation barrier. I had my backpack between my feet which didn't leave a lot of room for anything else.

I took a Damamine (remembering the experience of driving to Hahei). The trip started with ABBA on the CD player followed by Shania Twain but then... old time country... Fortunately I had earplugs, but it came through some anyway so I rolled down the window more for white noise.

Punctuating these musical selections were a bathroom stop at a small town store which Mom begged for Elizabeth. This entailed going through the store and then through the attached home all the way to the back of the house. We went in the bathroom, which had windows open to the backyard, and a huge chocolate lab stuck his head in the window. Fortunately he was very friendly.

We stopped at Tirau at a very cute Woolen Mill that was in a quonsit hut made out of corrugated metal in the shape of a sheeps' head. There was a cooresponding dogs' head that was the visitor center and public toilets. I got a t-shirt and some souvenirs. We also stopped at the Agrodome in Rotorua. We got there at about 11:45 just as the tour bus's were departing to find that the next show was not until 2;30. We had some lunch at a small outdoor café and then had ice cream.

Mom and Dad drove us a short ways to show us off to Jan Gooch, Ivan's mother. Back to the Agrodome via the Zorb hill. We stopped there and watched a couple people come down the hill. It looked like a lot of fun. Derek wanted to do it but we were short of time and didn't get back to it. The Agrodome show was pretty good. They had quite the showman displaying the 19 breeds of sheep. He also sheared a sheep (he had a terrible time with it too - the sheep was very uncooperative) and passed the fleece out through the crowd. He also had some kids come up from the audience and milk a cow. Then he had the sheepdogs come in and work a couple of ducks and then had them run up over the backs of the sheep. He also held a mock auction and gave a lot of information about how much the fleece was worth, how much the sheep were worth. It was a very informative and entertaining show. He did a sheep dog trial exhibition after that.

After the Agrodome we went to the Maori Art and Crafts Center. That was pretty interesting. We were with a guided tour led by a very interesting Maori man who I could very easily picture jumping out of the bushes and attacking the pakeha's (white men). We got to look in at the carving school. They only take in five students a year, only Maori's, and only men. They were really doing some beautiful work. Very expensive. We also got to see some geysers and mud pits and a real live kiwi. There were women doing some flax weaving exhibitions also.

We left after that and drove to Taurangi where we stopped for gas and groceries. Then on to Omori where the bach was located. More winding roads and upset stomach. I don't think I will be feeling well until we are back to Hahei for a few days. I think it is a good thing that we will be in Auckland a day before we fly so I can recover from the drive before I have to get on the plane for 12 1/2 hours.

The bach is nice but small. Derek, Kacie and Aundine had one room with two single beds, Bill and Debbie got a room with a double bed, Mom and Dad are in the basement and the girls and I are on the living room floor(fortunately on mattresses). Home sweet home. I stayed up awhile and read by the ity-bity book light. Nights have been weird, I'm really hot an my skin feels prickly - Sunburn after effects maybe. I am sleeping with wet paper towels on my forehead, it seems to help. Also taking 3 ibuprophen when I wake feeling too uncomfortable.