Thursday we left Mount Maunganui and drove southwest to Taupo. Along the way we stopped at Rainbow Springs, which is a wildlife park designed around natural springs. The main hit of the park is the kiwi nursery, which is in place to help keep the rapidly declining kiwi numbers up. This is the largest kiwi hatching facility in New Zealand. We took a tour through the hatchery where we saw incubating eggs and a new born 2 day old chick. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures through that part, so we cannot share the sights with you. We will tell you though, it was pretty cool and the chick was adorable. Basically they take the eggs from the nest when they are first laid and bring them to the hatchery. Once hatched, they raise the chicks until about 6 months, then take them into the wild. There are lots of details and specifications that go into the process to ensure a high success rate. The little chick we saw was so cute! Also in the park were tons of great trout ponds and loads of birds. If we could only fish for trout at that spot we would be conquering the fly fishing challenge. We had a great time at the park even though we were getting drizzled on the whole time.
After Rainbow Springs, we got back on the road to Taupo. We made one more stop at Lava Glass. This is a studio set up by a glassmaker, Lynden Over, as a working studio. We were able to watch as the artist made incredible blown glass pieces. There is a 1940F furnace that holds 120 liters of molten clear glass, which is dipped into to start the art. Once the first part is started, more colors are added and slowly melted and shaped into art. It was awesome to watch and gave you the feeling to get out and be creative. It was an amazing process that takes extreme concentration and patience.
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