ROTORUA SECOND DAY

DAY 44/138    FEBRUARY 2, 2024  Sunrise 6:29AM   Sunset: 8:27 PM

Rotorua (Tauranga), New Zealand   One of Tauranga's first European visitors was Captain James Cook, who in November 1769, sailed past Mauao.  James Cook's explorations paved the way for european settlement.  Traders in flax were active in the Bay of Plenty during the 1830's; some were transient, others married local women and settled permanently.  The first permanent trader was James Farrow, who travelled to Trauranga in 1829, obtaining flax fibre for Australian merchants in exchange for muskets and gunpowder.  Farrow acquired a land area of 0.5 acres in 1838 at Otumoetai Pa from the chiefs tupaea, Tangimoana and Te Omanu, this is the earliest authenticated land purchase in the Bay of Plenty. 

OUR EXCURSION TODAY WAS SCENIC BAY OF PLENTY

Rolling Farmland and Kiwifruit Orchards -- Meet your guide and board your motor coach as you set off through Tauranga,crossing the city’s harbor to Te Puke. Pronounced “tay-pookey,” this is New Zealand’s premier region for the production of the nation’s namesake fruit. During your panoramic ride, you will learn more about the orchards that pepper the surrounding landscape. At a local village community hall, enjoy refreshments and a taste of locally picked kiwi, along with free time to browse for kiwi-inspired products and mementos at a boutique marketplace. Members of the local Maori tribe will welcome guests, then provide entertaining insight into their culture. Reboard your coach for a drive along Marine Parade, with panoramic views over Ocean Beach and the Bay of Plenty, before arriving back at your ship.

This area of New Zealand logs and exports a particular type of pine tree. The original source of the trees was actually the United States and our driver said it was the state of Oregon where New Zealand found this type of pine that grows better in New Zealand because of the climate and rainfall. The pine trees are grown in tree farms and the lumber yards we saw showed processed pines that were all cut the same diameter and length. Our driver said the logs are exported overseas with China being the major importer.

We toured just one of thousands of kiwi orchards. The orchards have windbreaks that are meant to protect the vines when they are flowering. These windbreaks also need to be trimmed. The kiwi fruit vines need to be staked and pruned. Each plant ultimately can produce 200 pounds of yellow, green or red kiwi fruit. The fruit has to be hand picked and they bring in 20,000 seasonal workers from the islands for 6 weeks for harvesting and packing the fruit. They also have bee keepers that bring bees in December to pollinate the trees. The flower pollen is not sufficient to feed the bees and they the keepers feed them daily to keep them from flying away.This is a six billion dollar industry with the majority of the fruit exported to China and Japan. China has an affinity for the red kiwi. One of the women who was working at the marketplace said she had never eaten one of the red kiwi since it all goes overseas.

After driving past the kiwi orchards we were ushered into the Community Hall where tea, coffee and cookies were offered to us. There were also samples of yellow and green kiwi. The ladies in the hall with whom I spoke said that the company that made kiwi fruit wine in the past no longer makes it but occasionally you can buy kiwi fruit ice cream. 

There was a lengthy speech about the health benefits of eating kiwi fruit not only for all of the vitamins and minerals but also the benefits for digestion and elimination. There were quite a few products for sale such as jams, kiwi liqueur, and products with special enzymes and probiotics to assist elimination named Phloe (bowel health). We enjoyed the samples of fruit but didn't make any purchases.

We were entertained by a group of Maori dancers who exhibited some special talents and had one of the men had some large impressive tattoos on his left arm and chest.

Our bus ride back to the ship gave us a great view of the area which is called the Bay of Plenty.