Sunday, 6 May 2018

PARADISE VALLEY SPRINGS NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY


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After the visit to Glenbrook we proceeded to Rotorua ,on the way we stopped  at a place called Matamata, a town in the shadow of the Kaimai Range Mountains, on New Zealand’s North Island.

 Southwest of this town, the Hobbiton Movie Set was created for Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films.
What was striking for me in New Zealand was that some places were similar to our local language
‘Matamata in  our Telugu language means being angry’
 As our itinerary was different we had a quick lunch with fish and chips and walked across to the park nearby, waiting for all our bus mates to come we did some window shopping and found quaint little paintings and other items done by local artists some of whom were found relaxing on easy chairs in the grass and doing their business cheerfully

We next went to Paradise Valley Springs which is Rotorua's must-see wildlife park. It is a 50 acred beautifully maintained park where we could interact with animals found wild around New Zealand,   This family-friendly attraction, set amid native bush, provided easy access along flat walkways in all types of weather and for people of all ages .

 We fell in love with this place, as it was very beautiful . We walked 2 hours around feeding and photographing very sociable farm animals - Alpacas  ducks, deer, wallebies, sheep, lamas, which were interestingly looking very friendly and they looked as if they were waiting to greet us and with us !

The girl who was looking after the farm animals though she said she had joined recently seemed to be very familiar with all the animals and was calling them all by their names . New Zealand has no native livestock, but a wide range of animals have been imported Farming is New Zealand's primary industry

There were an array of New Zealand and exotic wildlife, native birds in the aviary and waterfowl wetlands , We visited the Kea, New Zealand’s infamous and comical alpine parrots in their walk-through aviary, we found them preening themselves with gay abandon
Flowing through Paradise Valley Springs was the Ngongotaha Stream which is the major trout spawning stream for Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti and approximately 20,000 trout spawn in this stream annually.

The Trout were totally wild and were free to come and go as they wish. There were hundreds of Rainbow and Brown trout in the natural stream as well as in the spring-fed display pools, and we could view them at eye level through an underwater window below their pool. We also spotted some large native long-finned eels lazing in their pools. 
Paradise Valley Springs had its own natural freshwater spring, Te Waireka (meaning Sweet Water).  Flowing from deep underground at a rate of 60 litres every second, this pure water provides a never ending supply to the trout pools, coffee shop and water bottling plant.
With glasses she had brought with her, our guide gave us pure New Zealand water from Te Waireka spring, we could also if we chose, take some bottled water away with us for friends and family to taste.

Long ago, before European settlement, local Maori tribes would bring their battle wounded warriors to Te Waireka spring to drink, as they believed these waters had healing qualities
Scientific testing showed the water from Te Waireka spring to be of a very high quality with excellent mineral contents.  In 2003 a small bottling plant began producing bottled water
Winding through open pasture areas alongside the Ngongotaha trout stream, the walkway was very wide with viewing areas  for the tourists to enjoy the beautiful setting.
We then went to the rainforest Treetops Walk. the solid boardwalk which was up to six metres (20 feet) off the ground in places, putting us right up in the tree canopy.We felt as if we were on top of the trees
The elevated walkway wound itself around mature native Tawa trees which were several hundred years old, through tangled vines and native plants, before lowering back down to ground level and exiting alongside a peaceful stretch of the Ngongotaha Stream. Along the walkway we found some old huts arranged in a very natural way
 In a separate area of the park there was a pride of African Lions, seen all day in an enclosure that allowed us to get very close to these wild animals. Lion feeding was at 2.30pm everyday which we unfortunately missed narrowly






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