BLOG POST 16
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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