90
Million Possums And Huka Falls
We
fare welled Ross and Jenny, then headed out for Taupo. Along the
road I noticed lots of dead possums.
"Are
the possums native to New Zealand?" I asked. They weren't. In fact
they were classified as vermin and poisoned whenever possible. But
it seemed to be a lost cause. The size of the problem became more
obvious when I was told there were 3,500,000 people in New Zealand,
50,000,000 sheep, but 90,000,000 possums! Other imports from Australia
which had gained a firm foothold in New Zealand were the magpies,
cockatoos, kookaburras and wallabies. But none were welcomed.
For
about an hour we traveled through a long, thick fog. "Is this why
New Zealand is called the land of the long white cloud?" I asked.
Huka
Falls was on the other side of the fog. Pushing millions of gallons
of water through a 10 metre wide chasm, Huka Falls generated electricity
for 65% of the North Island as it sent water flowing down the Waikato
River and through 11 power stations downstream.
Pussies
And Hot Baths At Lake Taupo
We
stopped at Lake Taupo for lunch. Two young grey kittens peered at
us over the cliff edge as their mother observed them from a distance.
About 20 ducks hovered around our table as we ate and were rewarded
with some sliced bread after we'd finished … but only if they ate
it out of my hands, which they did. Then as we left we saw the kittens
scurrying under the picnic table for scraps. These were definitely
wild cats. They'd be sleeping on the cliff tonight.
We
hadn't found time to have a hot mineral bath in Rotorua, so Bryan
was pleased to stop at the Taupo Hot Springs and Health Spa. We'd
all kept our bathers and towels handy, so it wasn't long before
we were cooking in the 40 degree Celsius pools. There were only
half a dozen others there, but I couldn't help notice that all the
young women had tattoos, one of then with a tattoo covering most
of her back.
Tonight
would be a quiet night. We booked into Settlers Motel in Turangi
and, after another visit to an Internet Café, I spent the rest of
the night watching TV.
This
article is taken from the ebook,
Land of the LETS Green
Dollar
About
the book
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