Rotorua is an easy town to walk around. I stopped at jade stores, saw a carver meticulously working on a jade piece, enjoyed seafood chowder for lunch and continued my walk through the Government Gardens to Sulphur Point where I spent some time birding; saw 5 new birds! I thought about a dip in the thermal waters at a spa, but not so much fun by oneself; another time. We did attend a dinner, cultural program and geyser-viewing at TePuia before leaving this town.

Before we caught our afternoon flight from Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand to Christchurch on the South Island, we stopped at a Redwood Forest. The interesting thing about the trees is they grow so fast they have a pithy interior so the wood is of no value. Well the trees have been left to grow anyway and now it is quite a recreational area for walkers, runners, tree-walking activity and a zip-line at the canopy level. I could have spent hours walking the trails here.

Another stop we made the previous day and worth mentioning, since I had not told you, Rotorua is a geothermal area. There are bubbling mud pools, geothermal geysers and steaming vents. You will see steam rising in various places, even at gutters at the road’s edge, and wonder at first if it is smoke, steam or soon to be a rainy day.

Finally we arrived in Christchurch, organized at the hotel and spent time in the city center. In 2010 and 2011, Christchurch experienced devastating earthquakes. The city has been re-building its English-influenced beauty. We walked around the town with its large Botanic Garden, Avon River, shops and museums and convention center.

While in Christchurch we also drove about an hour west to visit a sheep farm. Chris and Del actually care for 3,000 of their neighbor’s Romney sheep, along with their own dogs, alpacas, goats and horses, etc. Chris provided a demonstration of how the Border Collie can move sheep from one location to another. Then how their Huntaway dog moves the sheep more quickly into the pen. I never realized the Border Collie doesn’t bark and with Chris he has trained it to follow voice commands, not whistles. The Border Collie knows how to slowly move the sheep forward, left or right. The Huntaway dog does bark and is more aggressive and trained to follow Chris’ direction as he wants that go to move the sheep along quickly and into the pen. He trained these dogs with lessons 5-10 minutes in morning and night for a couple of years. He has found dogs that simply do not want to learn and therefore they are not herding dogs. 

Chris and Del also have alpacas and photos were fun to see as the one alpaca was hugged by the person and another alpaca laid its head on the person’s shoulder. Romney sheep are shorn 2 times per year, March and August; Merino only one time per year, and alpacas only one time per year. Chris demonstrated shearing a sheep; not as fast as the professionals they have in to do the shearing, nor as fast as the individuals who win contests at 30 seconds per sheep! BTW, another new bird was heard…New Zealand bellbird …beautiful song. 

We had a delicious lunch here before we left for Christchurch. Once back in town, I took a short walk to the Transitional Cathedral (often called “The Cardboard Cathedral”) which was erected soon after the earthquakes since the 1905-built cathedral was damaged. That cathedral is still not re-built. So for about 5-6 million New Zealand dollars, a Japanese architect and local firm, built this Anglican cathedral from 24 inch-diameter cardboard tubes (98 of them), timber and steel with a poly carbon roof and 8 shipping containers forming the walls. Pretty remarkable as it stands so many years later.

We are off to Dunedin … further south on the South Island of New Zealand.