Day 5 - Rotorua & Napier activities

We started out the day at the Kairuru Hereford stud farm. When we arrived it was still early and there was a heavy fog over all of the landscape. Jane McDonald informed of us the security precautions that we should take in case there was an earthquake. She told us to not take cover under any overhead lines and to watch out for the rocks on the steep mountain side of their land. This farm consisted of 500 acres. They produce purebred Polled Herefords to sell. They gave us a tour around several of their paddocks to view the beautiful scenery as well as to look at some of the bulls. Graham, their son, was in love with Kennedy. He would not leave her side and walked arm in arm with her the entire time. He was a very sweet boy. After the tour they invited us into their house for tea, coffee, and scones. The owner Kevin was very proud of the bulls he raises and had a sale playing for us to watch. They were very friendly and welcoming. We left them with a gift and offered one to Graham. As we were departing the entire family stood by our bus and waved goodbye.

Graham and Kennedy

Herd bull at McDonald Hereford Stud Farm

We then traveled to Huka Falls and Taupo Lake. The Falls flows out of the lake and it is so powerful that it prevents salmon and eel from swimming upstream. This is important for the ecosystem of the lake. The Falls were a bright blue and very beautiful to see. We read that 200,000 liters goes over the Falls every second. It was so powerful that you could hear the water before you could see it. There was a hotel that overlooks the Falls and to stay here it is $4,000 a night. The hotel view is so nice that they have recorded Queen Elizabeth and Prince Henry have stayed their several times, it is rumored that Osama Bin Laden has also stayed there.

Huka Falls

 

After that we had an hour and a half bus ride to Trelinnoe Farm and park. The bus ride was long but allowed us to view the mountainous region. Our guides name was Bruce Wills and his family farm sheep and cattle. He has 1,000 head cattle and 4,000 head of sheep on 1,100 hectares. After we talked about his animals and production he took us on a tour through the family garden of trees. His father planted over 20,000 trees, which consisted of 100’s of varieties. The park was beautiful to walk around even in winter! In the middle of the garden there was a tennis court and a small lodge where his parents lived. The garden overlooked the mountainous scenery.

Kiwi fruit on the vine

Students enjoying a good crisp apple

Our last stop of the day was at Derek Barns kiwi, apple, peach, and stone fruit orchards. He drove us through Hawkes Bay and showed us all of his orchards that he owned. They have tall hedges surrounding their trees to help protect from wind and spray drift. We were able to try both the kiwi and apples today. He grows golden kiwi’s and they were delicious! He also mentioned that if a kiwi has a lot of seeds it has been pollinated well. It also takes about 20-30 hits from a bee on the flower to be pollinated. The apples that he let us try were the Granny Smith and Jazz apples. Apples have never tasted so good! The first bite was very crisp, juicy, and delicious. He even let us take one for breakfast. They also have olive trees and his wife pickles them. For the olives to be fermented well, it takes about 4 months.

We have the night off and most of us plan on exploring a little bit. There’s lot of choices of local restaurants that we are excited to try. Our hotel is facing the Pacific Ocean. There’s a beach that we can walk alongside, however, it is not a swim beach due to the steep side of it.