Zorb

Have you wondered what it might feel like if you're inside a washing machine? One way to find out is to try Zorb, one of the more extreme attractions at Rotorua.

What is Zorb? The best way to describe it is a human hamster ball. You sit inside a giant plastic ball, which is then pushed down a slope. As the ball rolls down the slope, you experience the thrill and joy of being tossed around.

Zorb ball getting ready to be rolled down the slope

My interpretation of the experience

Zorb is something to experience if you're ever in Rotorua, have NZD40 to spare, and would like try something crazy. That's exactly the situation I found myself in, so I thought, "what the hell, you only live once." :-)

There are 2 options, and 2 tracks. The 2 options are: dry or wet. For the dry option, you are harnessed to a seat inside the ball. As the ball rolls, the seat, and you, roll along with it. For the wet option, you are not harnessed to anything, and are free to tumble around inside the ball. The ball is filled with about 10cm of water, hence it's wet (to reduce friction). The 2 tracks are straight or zig-zag. The straight track is faster, while the zig-zag has more bumps.

I chose the wet option, and zig-zag. The experience was... well, hard to describe. Maybe my expression in the pictures below will show you.

Dazed after the ride

Yes!

Zorb was invented in New Zealand, but has now spread all over the world. It can be risky, if not handled safely. Recently, one person was killed, and another seriously injured, when their Zorb ball rolled off a cliff in Russia. The Zorb in NZ is very safe, because they have high safety standards.

Attractions in Rotorua

Wai-O-Tapu

Located 25km from Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu is a park with geysers and geothermal pools. It is similar to Yellowstone National Park in US, although not as big or majestic.

Lady Knox geyser

Champagne Pool

Geothermal pool

Redwoods

Whakarewarewa forest, or simply known as "Redwoods", is a man-made forest park only 5km from Rotorua. Its name originated from the California Redwoods that can be found there.

How did a tree native to US came to be in NZ? In late 19th century, the NZ government was looking for trees that can be grown for commercial forestry production. The government experimented with several species, planting them here in Rotorua, to see how well they can grow in NZ environment. Ultimately, Radiata Pine (another native California tree) was chosen as the best suited for NZ climate. Today, most NZ wood production comes from pine.

For some reason, they did not cut down these Redwoods, and now it's a public park. There are many walking and mountain bike trails in the park.

An American Redwood in New Zealand

Rotorua

Rotorua, located 230km south east of Auckland, is a major tourist destination in New Zealand. It is known for 3 things: hot springs, Maori culture and extreme sports.


Rotorua is located next to a large lake, known simply as Lake Rotorua. While Lake Rotorua looks like a normal lake today, it is actually a volcano caldera, a giant crater formed by a volcanic explosion 220,000 years ago. That explosion was so large that it created a giant crater, which eventually filled with water and became Lake Rotorua.

Rotorua and its lake

One feature of Rotorua that all visitors immediately notice is the smell. It's a stinking sulphur smell similar to Yellowstone Park in US, or White Island in NZ. This is caused by sulphur in the air reacting with water, forming hydrogen sulphide. Even in the city, you can see active geothermal vents.

Kuirau Park near Rotorua city center

Geothermal activity in Rotorua

If this reminds you of White Island, this is because Rotorua, White Island and Taupo collectively forms what is known as the Taupo Volcanic Zone. This is the most active volcano zone in NZ, and possibly the world.

Taupo Volcanic Zone (www.sciencelearn.org.nz)

The nearest volcano to Rotorua is called Mount Tarawera, and is 24km from the city. Its last eruption was about 130 years ago, in 1886, and killed about 120 people. Given the rather large distance from Rotorua, most of the people killed were not from the city, but from small villages closer to the mountain. If there was an explosion today, I don't think there will be much damage to the city from the volcano itself, although there could be damage from the accompanying earthquake and tremors.

Artist depiction of Mt Tarawera explosion (www.clearwater.co.nz)

Mt Tarawera today

Can you spot Mt Tarawera?

Rotorua was a major Maori settlement before Europeans arrived. Why would they live in such a dangerous area? The answer is there are many benefits to living in a hot geothermal area. Maori had free heating in winter, and free hot water for bathing and cooking. This was before there was electricity and gas, which we take for granted today.

Even today, we get many benefits. Geothermal power produces about 10% of NZ total energy. And the hot springs is a major tourist attraction.

Ohinemutu, a Maori village in Rotorua

Maori cultural performance (www.tepuia.com)

That explained 2 of the 3 attractions in Rotorua. What about extreme sports? I'm not sure, but I guess that came from some creative and enterprising Kiwis taking advantage of the large number of tourists visiting the city.

Weeds

Removing weeds is a boring job, although I did learn a little about the different types of weeds. The 3 types of weeds I encountered was thistle, blackberry and gorse.

Thistle

This is a soft, leafy plant that can grow to about one foot high. They have sharp prickly leaves. Their flowers are deceptively beautiful, with their bright purple colour. However, those flowers will spread the seeds, which will multiply into new thistles elsewhere. As they start flowering in spring, it's important to dig them out before that.

Thistle

Blackberry

You may say, "Wait, how can blackberry be a weed? The fruit tastes delicious. They even name smartphones after them!" That's all true, but in the context of animal farming, they are considered a weed.

Thorns on blackberry

Blackberries have very thorny stems, and deep roots that can grow on the ground. They grow aggressively, and can take over a field. The animals don't eat them (one exception: goats love to eat blackberries, and is one of the natural ways to control it). Because the animals don't eat them, and they compete with the grass, this reduces the amount of food the animals have to eat.

Blackberry that's killed by herbicide

Even this organic farm had to use chemicals to kill a blackberry infestation. I can understand that, as they can be impossible to eradicate manually once the infestation is too big.

Gorse

This is one of the most common weeds in New Zealand. It is very hardy, and can grow almost anywhere. It has hard, prickly leaves and beautiful yellow flowers. It is not uncommon to see entire fields overgrown with gorse and its yellow flowers.

Gorse

Hillside overgrown with gorse

The method I used to remove all these weeds was to simply dig them out with a grubber, a tool like a hoe. This is the organic way to do it, but also the most labour intensive. After 2 weeks, I only cleared a small section of the farm. I can see why organic farming is hard. It's tempting to just spray all the weeds with herbicide, that will be much easier.

Raglan - Edge of Heaven

I had reached Cape Reinga, the most northern point in New Zealand, and there was nowhere to go further north. I had explored most of Northland. So I headed south, to Hamilton. Located about 1.5 hours drive from Auckland, Hamilton is the 4th largest city in New Zealand. I stayed at a hostel for 2 weeks in Hamilton. It's is a nice city, with a little "university town" feeling to it. Perhaps it's because the University of Waikato is located in the city.

Hamilton city center

After Hamilton, I headed to Raglan, a coastal town about 45 min west of Hamilton. Located on the west coast, this is a seaside tourist town, popular for its surfing beaches. I stayed at a farm owned by Heather and Mark. It's a small farm, about 40 acres, situated on a hillside overlooking Raglan. They call it the "Edge of Heaven", perhaps due to the great view from the house. From the house, you can see small town of Raglan. The view of sunset is magnificent.

View of Raglan from the farm

Raglan sunset

Heather and Mark's house

Manu Beach, a surfing beach 10km from the house

On this farm, they have a herd of about a dozen cattles. Heather explained that this is a special type of cattle called Dexter. It's not popular due to its small size, which makes it less profitable. This is a lifestyle block, means they're not depending on the cattles for their main source of income, so I suppose it's not a problem.

Dexter cattles on the farm

A cow getting too close to the camera

For their main source of income, Heather works as a hypnotherapist. She uses hypnosis to help people with their problems, such as pain and stress. Mark works for Earthquake Commission (EQC), the government agency that manages the rebuilding after an earthquake.

However, Mark is currently not working, because he suffered a stroke 2 months ago, which paralyzed the left side of his body. He is going through physiotherapy, and is able to walk with a cane. However, he still has limited mobility in his left hand and leg. Heather has to take care of him.

The work on the farm got a little neglected. Because of that, weeds were taking over in some places. So my main responsibility was weed removal. As this is an organic farm, we don't use herbicides. It's manual work to dig out and pull out the weeds. Removing weeds can be described as a never-ending battle, because they always grow back eventually.

This is my second host that has suffered a serious injury. This made me realize one of the pitfalls of farm ownership. If one's sick or injured, it's hard to keep up with the work. Farming, especially organic farming, is very labour intensive. Big farms can hire more workers, but small farmers usually don't have the money to hire full-time help. Some may use temporary help or WWOOF volunteers. Others might just give up and sell their farms.

Cape Reinga

The question I wondered was, how far north can you go? What's the most northern point in New Zealand? The answer is Cape Reinga. About 1.5 hours drive from Kaitaia, this is a remote location with some beautiful scenery. (Tip: you can click on the link at the end of each blog entry to see a Google map of the location.)

Cape Reinga

Cape Reinga

Cape Reinga is a popular tourist destination. I was told that, during peak season, thousands of tourists visit the place every day. Perhaps everyone is also curious about the most northern point in NZ. However, it was the middle of winter when I went there, and I saw only about 30 people.

This place has a special significance in Maori culture. According to Maori beliefs, Cape Reinga is where the spirits of the dead leave NZ to return to Hawaiki, their ancestral homeland. It is unknown where exactly is Hawaiki. Historians think that Maori and Pacific Islanders came from Taiwan. The theory is that Maoris, Malays, Filipinos, Hawaiians, Fijians etc. descended from Taiwan's natives.

Where spirits depart New Zealand

Ninety Mile Beach

Ninety Mile Beach is a stretch of beach between Cape Reinga and Kaitaia. The beach is very beautiful and is a tourist attraction. It is extremely long, hence the name, although not quite ninety miles long. It is possible to actually drive on the beach. Adventurous people use it to drive to Cape Reinga, although a 4WD offroad-capable vehicle is required.

Ninety Mile Beach

Te Paki Sand Dunes

Located just 20 min south of Cape Reinga is Te Paki sand dunes. It looks like a huge desert, covered in sand for many kilometers.

Te Paki sand dunes

This is also a tourist attraction. The favorite activity here is sand surfing. It's like snowboarding, but with sand instead of snow.

What I found strange is why is there a sand dune here in New Zealand. Normally, desert is associated with hot and dry weather. But NZ weather is cool and wet. The sand dune looks like an anomaly, in fact it is surrounded by green forests. As I found out later, the sand dune is formed by wind. The strong coastal winds pick up the sand from the beach, and deposited it here.

Kaitaia - Amber and Inti

Going further north, I headed to the town of Kaitaia. This is one of the most northern settlements in New Zealand. I stayed at a farm about 20km from the town.

Actually, it's incorrect to call it "farm", because there's no farming at all, besides a small garden. This place was owned by Amber and Inti, a young couple. Unlike other farms that I've been to, this one isn't owned by old, semi-retired people. The owners are only 20 or 30 years old. They might be even younger than me!

Inti (who is the guy) explained that his family migrated from Germany, hence his strange German name. As for Amber, she is from USA. She came to New Zealand for holiday. While here, she WWOOF at Inti's place, fell in love, and decided to stay. Both of them have full time jobs. Amber works for the government, while Inti is a carpenter/contractor.

The house is situated on 20 acres on a rather steep hill. Due to the slope, the land isn't suitable for farming. Inti explained that the main industry in this area is forestry. This means harvesting and logging of trees. Those trees are planted for this purpose. It's essentially "growing" trees, instead of fruits or vegetables, for commercial purpose. Indeed, I saw hundreds of acres of trees planted on the neighbor's property.

The house on a hill side

Pine trees planted on neighbor's land

It came as a surprise when Inti told me that they were selling the house. I asked him why, and he explained that he had a back injury, and can no longer work as a carpenter. He had an operation to to fix the problem, but back injuries can be persistent. His doctor advised him to change jobs, or the injury could reappear.

Inti said that since they're selling the house, there's no work for me. Then he asked if I would like to help him with building construction work on a neighbor's house. I said yes, but I wondered about his back injury. Didn't his doctor advised him against this work? He explained he's currently on painkillers, and his back still hurt a little. But he needed the money, and had no choice.

I suppose that, for young people, money is an issue. The cost of Inti's operation was covered by the government, which also paid him disability benefits. But the government pressured him to get back to work as soon as possible. The problem is, the government is trying to cut back on welfare benefits. This is a controversial issue, but there are too many people on welfare in NZ, which is unsustainable. The government is trying to reduce that.

So, I became an apprentice carpenter for a week. I helped with measuring, cutting wood and installing insulation. Inti is an experienced builder, and worked very efficiently despite his injury. I was his assistant, and I learned a little about wood house construction. I feel sorry that he injured his back at a young age, and can no longer do what he wants. I suppose that's the risk of every physically demanding job.

During the weekend, we went fishing. Like sailing, fishing is a favorite pastime for New Zealanders. I've never fished before, so I'm glad to get the chance to learn. We didn't catch any fish, but we did get lots of mussels. They grow on the rocks on the beach, and I enjoyed picking them by hand. They would have cost maybe a hundred dollars at the supermarket, but here it was totally free!

Inti setting the fishing poles