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SUNDAY, APRIL 19th-----
Good evening from Napier--we drove down to the heart of wine counrty of the north island this morning from Rotorua. I'll have to back up a bit. Scott--who was worried about coming in last in the XTERRA race---came in 9th of 55 in his age division. Wow! We were very proud of him. It was great fun just hanging out at the XTERRA event...they had numerous running races as well as the mountain bike event as well as a half triathalon. What a beautiful area to do a race of any kind....
After the event we went to an Maori culture center (which also is located in the heart of the geothermal areas of Rotorua)...we had a chance to go through the geothermal area and observe mud pools, geysers,steam vents etc... and then watch an authentic Maori cultural show. When a gal came out to talk to the group of about what was going to happen, she asked, "Is there any gentlemen in the audience who would like to meet the the tribal chief on everyone's behalf?" The only one who raised their hand was...uh...well, Luke. She said "I'm afraid that you are too young, but is your Dad here?" Chief Scott had the chance to meet the tribal chief first. :) Unfortunately, the pictures won't download...we have great pictures of Scott and Luke (along with about 5 other men/boys) up on stage trying to do the native dances. Very entertaining!!
As I said before we are now in Napier, a beautiful city surrounded by hills full of vineyards and the ocean on the other side. We went to see a real working sheep farm this afternoon. We learned a lot. The sheep shearer pointed to Scott to come up on stage and help him sheer a sheep. You can run, but you can't hide. It is so interesting to watch. We also had a chance to watch a gal spin the wool and explain that whole process. We now know why the merino wool is so expensive. It was great to see the sheep dogs rounding up the sheep...it is an incredibly effective process.
We also went to a local winery and sampled a wee bit of the local wine...we are heading off to dinner now. By the way, we haven't had a bad meal yet...absolutely wonderful food. We are going to see the glow-worm caves tomorrow on our way---I think---to Auckland for our last night in beautiful kiwi-land. :( :) Cheers!
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