Day #9 (Rotorua)

We began the day at the crack of dawn; 6:15.

Becky's alarm went off and I was in the middle of a really strange dream. I can't remember the details of it but the fact of the a matter was that it was the first time I dreamt since I've been here.
We had breakfast at 6:45 and had the bus packed up and out of Waitomo by 7:15. I didn't start my day right and poor Becky had to deal with me in a grouchy grouch all day. Luckily, the day was really fun.
After two hours of riding on the bus, we arrived at the Argodome for a sheep shearing show. It was hilarious! We started off in the lammy holding area. We pet baby lambs and greeted a big cow.
After the petting, we sat down in this theatre and watched the sheep show. It was great. They introduced us to all th breeds of sheep, gave one sheep a haircut, Becky milked a cow and we saw a small herding dog show. It was fantastic.
After the Argodome, we went to go Zorbing. Zorbing is a giant hollow translucent rubber ball that they fill with warm water and put you inside before they push you down a hill. It was sort of like being pushed down the hill in a giant washing machine. Becky and I went together and it was super funny. I was laughing the entire way down.

We got back on the bus and went to Rotorua for lunch. We went to the Fat Dog cafe. The food was great, and gluten free.
At about 1:30, we got back on the bus and went to check into our hotel. The hotel is nice and conveniently located near the Polynesian Spa natural hot spring pools. If anyone knows one thing about natural spas, its that they stink. The nickname for the town is "Rottenrua".
We booked a tour to Whakawerawera, a Maori village with the natural geysers and hot springs. The whole town smelt like eggs. This was great because I had really bad farts and no one was the wiser.
Mwah ha ha ha!
We were also touring in a huge group with the blue haired crowd. This was a drag because there were so many people that we didn't have a lot of opportunities to ask questions or hear what she was saying (at certain points).
Becky managed to ask a good question, "How many people were injured/killed when they discovered the hot pools?".
The guide responded with, "none!". Bullish*t!
We finished the tour and went for a walk to the mudpools. They were alright. I felt badly walking around the homes and gardens of the local tribe that lived there. For anyone who has been to Saint Marie Among the Hurons, it was like this only people still live there.

We got back on the bus and came back to the hotel for dinner, a Maori huangi (cooking meat/any food using geothermal heat), a show and a dip in the Polynesian Spas.