We took two chair lifts up to the top of the volcano, which was surprisingly cold. We were dressed in multiple layers, and still the windchill could have rivalled any winter ski day in Canada - okay, maybe not quite that bad, but it was pretty cold. At the top, we were rewarded with a warm cup of tea and a snack. Then, we walked most of the way back down and stopped in another cafe for lunch. After a quick "tramp" in the forest, it was off again to our next location.
We were invited to visit a local market gardener, which is kind of a misnomer as the very large operation supplies carrots and potatoes to both New Zealand and Japan. After a warm welcome of tea and home baked carrot muffins, of course, we were toured around the facility to see how the carrots were sorted, washed, and packaged. I will never look at a plastic bag of carrots in the same way again. At the end, I asked one of the owners if it is actually necessary to wash carrots when we take them out of the bag because they had been so thoroughly washed before being packaged, but he said that it was since many producers use chlorine in the washing process. Now I know what is giving my carrots that chemically taste, which none of his carrots had.
Then Nathalie and Laura were off to a rotary dairy barn and Mary and I were back to our host families to prepare for the evening potluck and presentation. As I'm typing this, I am realizing how much we actually ate that day! The meal was filled with good company and conversation, and the presentation went well with a good discussion afterwards. Thanks, Ohakune Rotary club!
Friday morning, we were off again to meet the Waverly club in Wanganui. Nathalie set off ahead of us to meet up with a representative from the Whanganui River Trust to learn about how the local Iwi is working with local government to protect the river. The Whanganui river has been given rights as a person (the same as a corporation would) so decisions can be made for what is best for the river itself, not just for the people. Nathalie reports that she really enjoyed learning more about the river and the local Iwi's connection to it, they literally are one with the river.
I think it's safe to say that I have drunk more tea in the past three weeks then I have in the past three years! Mind you, I'm not usually much of a tea drinker, so that's probably not saying much...
Then we were off again to the countryside outside of Waverly to our farm stay for the weekend. We were greeted with lunch with the local Rotary club, and then enjoyed a relaxing afternoon including a quick trip to the beach with black sand and a local glass maker before coming home to prepare for another Rotary meeting and presentation.
Today, we were supposed to go on a rip-roaring jet boat ride, but unfortunately, we were rained out. However, we enjoyed spending the morning sleeping in, catching up with journals, and reading. We are now sitting around catching up on emails and the news before having a relaxing lunch with our host family at the farm stay. The sun seems to be peaking out from behind the clouds, so who knows what the afternoon holds...
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