While waiting for breakfast to start, I get on-line and check my email. $2 gets you 15 mins. Heather got her passport and would be on her way. She left a text with Carolyn who didn't receive it. Mary checks her email and doesn't see anything. I can't even connect to the work email so I chat with Peggy with the last of my minutes.
Nothing really interesting for breakfast except for fried fish and curried chicken kidneys (gizzards). Our Aussie tourmates tells us that the secret to eating vegemite is to spread it extremely thin, buy even that is enough for Mary Ann to finish hers.
At the bus, we learn that we have to move back 2 seats every day. Fortunately, there is an open seat up front.
Our first stop is the Agrodome. They tell us about the different breeds. Followed by a sheep shearing demonstration. Sheep are sheared every 6 months. He throws the B grade wool out to the crowd. The dirt can never be cleaned out. They demonstrate a dog herding three ducks. He loses one. They send two other dogs and show how they literally run over their backs. The sheep don't really seem to care.
On the way to Rainbow Springs Park, Ross tells us how the sheep outsmarted a gardener. Somehow in the middle of the night something was eating his garden so he set up cameras and discovered it was sheep but how did they cross the cattle guard? Cameras at the cattle guard showed the sheep rolling over it then walking off to the garden.
Rainbow Springs Park contains many unique birds, geckos and trout of the area, but it is mainly a kiwi preserve. Kiwi eggs are taken from the wild, incubate and raised. After a year, they are released. It costs $4000 per kiwi. I always imagined kiwi's as the size of a chick. It's more of a large chicken. They are nocturnal and we could just barely make one out scampering around. <TUI KEA>
The Skyline Skyride is just next door. Souvenir photos were taken as we are seated in the gondola. just they did at the Agrodome and Rainbow Springs. A six man gondola. I have been playing We Ski and Snowboarding so this a bit of a treat. At the summit is a magnificent view - a bit hazy for photos since it is noon. You can pay for a ride on a two man gondola swing, but we have 2 Luge rides with our admission. It's more of a sled on wheels with handle bars. Don't let go of the yoke or it may catapult you over the front. Pull the yoke midway back and it freewheels. Pull it completely back and it brakes. Sounds great but the sled is too short and my long legs get stuck between the yoke so I can't nor steer that easily. There are three courses scenic, intermediate and advanced. The first ride of the day must be scenic which sucks because people go so slow on it. I tailgated the person in front of me all the way down.
My second run was on the advanced. It had a quick drop near the beginning to build up speed but I couldn't go too fast since I couldn't turn the yoke hard enough because of knees. I must have been going fast enough since I caught some air after one bump. At one point me DSLR slid between my knees. I tried moving it out of the way but wouldn't you know it? A hard turn was up ahead. I knew I couldn't make the turn do I braked and stuck my right leg out.
We did the duck boat during our free time. It was the inaugural. We recieve duck bill quackers. We quack at anyone we see to get them to smile and wave. We do a few tunes.
Play Mission Impossible as we enter the
Karyn finks out Mary Ann and eventually sucks Mary into doing the poi dance. Bill does the manly posturing. They try to get me on stage as well. I expected as much since I have a Polynesian look but I get out of it.
