Rotoruan Adventure
On Wednesday night I left for Rotorua for a forestry stakeholder meeting and industry expo. Rotorua is a great place with both geothermal sites and Maori cultural sites. I have been there once before with the family and had a great time. Unfortunately the geothermal pools make it smell like sulphur. Yuck! I think that our hotel was either heated or powered in some way by geothermal energy because I found this out back.
Though I didn't get any opportunity to do any Maori cultural stuff this time, we really enjoyed that aspect last time. Luckily we did not smirk when we were being challenged.
The meeting went well and there were some very interesting items for discussion, including something about the Mountain Pine Beetle which is reeking havoc on British Columbian forests.
The expo was pretty cool. There was booths and displays for every aspect of forestry. Outside there were big toys and some cool chainsaw carving competitions.
I thought it was pretty nice of them to set up a booth just for me. Actually given that it was an international forestry expo, it is not surprising to see Canadians attend.
I also had the opportunity to visit a tissue culture laboratory specialising in the production of woody plants. On the way out from that meeting I was walking down the street when I heard a screech of tires (or tyres as it is spelled here) and watched as a car smashed headlong into another car that had cut through traffic to turn right. Luckily no one was hurt though the cars were a mess. I was surprised when one of the ladies said she didn't have insurance. I guess it isn't mandatory. It all worked out in the end because the lady who was at fault did have insurance so hers would cover the costs of repairing the other car.
The flight back was an adventure. Windy Wellington has a way of making it a pretty bumpy ride into Wellington Airport. After a number of crazy bumps, one of which made me involuntarily clutch the armrest, we landed on the left wheel, then bounced to the right wheel, finally leveling off for one more skip before stopping. Yikes!
Though I didn't get any opportunity to do any Maori cultural stuff this time, we really enjoyed that aspect last time. Luckily we did not smirk when we were being challenged.
The meeting went well and there were some very interesting items for discussion, including something about the Mountain Pine Beetle which is reeking havoc on British Columbian forests.
The expo was pretty cool. There was booths and displays for every aspect of forestry. Outside there were big toys and some cool chainsaw carving competitions.
I thought it was pretty nice of them to set up a booth just for me. Actually given that it was an international forestry expo, it is not surprising to see Canadians attend.
I also had the opportunity to visit a tissue culture laboratory specialising in the production of woody plants. On the way out from that meeting I was walking down the street when I heard a screech of tires (or tyres as it is spelled here) and watched as a car smashed headlong into another car that had cut through traffic to turn right. Luckily no one was hurt though the cars were a mess. I was surprised when one of the ladies said she didn't have insurance. I guess it isn't mandatory. It all worked out in the end because the lady who was at fault did have insurance so hers would cover the costs of repairing the other car.
The flight back was an adventure. Windy Wellington has a way of making it a pretty bumpy ride into Wellington Airport. After a number of crazy bumps, one of which made me involuntarily clutch the armrest, we landed on the left wheel, then bounced to the right wheel, finally leveling off for one more skip before stopping. Yikes!
Comments