globetrotting: the shearing shed in waitomo, new zealand

disclaimer: no rabbits were harmed during this photo shoot.
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on one of the final days of our vacation, we visited the glow worm and ruakuri caves in waitomo, a few hours outside of auckland. en route, we happened to notice a quirky little red building called the shearing shed, advertising angora rabbit products and a free demonstration. i love demonstrations. i took a quick look in our lonely planet book, and saw that the place had a rabbit shearing demo everyday at 12.45pm. at 11.55am we found ourselves done with the first cave, with plenty of time before we were scheduled for the next one. so, we had a quick lunch next door at the huhu cafe and headed on over to the shearing shed, right on time.

how cute is he??

globetrotting: crafting at hell's gate

we began our second week in new zealand in rotorua, famous for their geothermal activity. during our last day there, we enjoyed the hell's gate geothermal park. little did we expect, the park ended with an optional craft activity!

we were given the opportunity to try a little wood carving, an important craft to the maori people. unfortunately, we didn't have so much time to learn about the tradition and history of maori wood-carving, but it was fun to try the craft.

we had a choice of the following designs. i chose a kiwi for the husband, and he chose a ponga for me. we were handed a little piece of wood with the image drawn on, plus a rubber mallet and chisel. the chisel had a v-shaped groove in it (images below). the maori wood-carving instructor gave us a brief demo and we were ready to test out our wood-carving skills.

globetrotting: me vs. franz josef

i climbed a glacier and i am proud to report that i did not fall off.
seriously.

a few days into our trip here (new zealand), we took a half day climb on franz josef glacier, the second largest glacier in the country (about 11 km long). we booked our guided hike via www.franzjosefglacier.com, which may very well be the only company that organizes these trips into the glacier. as i understand it (and i may be wrong), individuals are not allowed to hike the glacier without an experienced guide.

globetrotting: a glimpse of new zealand

i think i am in love.   

i'm currently on a grand vacation in new zealand with the husband. we've been here just over a week, and it is amazing. our little point and shoot just can't quite capture all the beauty.

if you haven't visited this fabulous country before, i strongly suggest you do so. what are you waiting for?  i don't want to hear any excuses about money- just sell a kidney. after all, isn't that why we were born with two?