Day 54.

The morning is reserved for fishing on the river outside our rental house.  Justin and Corey had figured out yesterday that there weren’t really any places that rented fishing gear so we settle on the strategy of buying a couple of cheap rods to use for the week.  ‘

We stop at a fishing and hunting store. We go to the section of the store with the fishing rods.  There is a sales person who looks bored.  I guess there’s not many people shopping for fishing gear in the winter during the middle of a weekday.  “We’re in town for holiday and just wanted to buy the cheapest fishing rods you since we’ll be tossing them in a week.”  He grumbles and takes us over to some rods and points to them. I look at the tag – NZ $349 (~ US $225).  Holy cow!  Guess we’ll have to come up with an alternative activity.  

We are walking towards the door looking disappointed when another, more energetic sales person comes up to us.  “I think I might be able to help you,” he says and takes us to a selection of rods that are NZ $39 (US $25).  Score, looks like fishing is back on.  We walk out with three new pink rods and I successfully refrain from suggesting that the first sales guy might need some remedial sales training.

After morning fishing, the tally is 1 fish caught.  At least that’s one more than we caught on the Bow River in Banff, Canada.  

We head out to visit a classic car museum that is in combination with rock n’ roll 50’s style diner that John has found off the beat-n-path.  There are ~50 classic cars many from the 1920’s and 1930’s.  We are reminded of when Leanne’s cousin Nancy Leigh’s husband Jeff’s father took us out for a ride in his 1908 Ford Model A ~7 years ago when we visited them.  We grab lunch at the diner.  The have a painted poster of Grease but I’m unable to rally the kids to sign Grease songs acapella.  My mom would have loved the diner with the life like dancing Elvis replica. 

After lunch, we go Blasta Cars which is the world’s first drift car racing track.  Apparently, the concept was invented here and the place had been open since the mid 1980’s.  The track is rather small and oval shaped and the idea is to go really fast and swing around the end and go skidding across without losing control of the car.  Easier said than done.  The drift car racing wasn’t designed to be a contact bumper car sport but that more what it resembles with us.  If you spin out on the turn, you are stuck facing the wrong way with other cars baring down on you.  I seem to be Ashlynn’s favorite bumper car target.  When the dust settles, Corey is pronounced the winner and no-one has any permanent or life threatening injuries although I might have to rethink having 5 teenagers with drivers licenses when we get back.

The last event is the Waikato Museum that has the history, artifacts, statures and relics of the aboriginal people, the Maaori, who came from Polynesia in sea canoes in the late 1200s. The Maaori, concerned by European pressure to acquire land in the North Island, established the King Movement whose central purpose was and still is the unification of the Maaori people. There have been 6 monarchs. I hadn’t realized that there was so much polynesean influence in the history of New Zealand.  

Feeling cultured and enriched, we go to an Irish Pub for dinner.  New Zealand food is likely the most expensive we’ve encountered so far (which surprised me).  So John has found a “cost-effective” option in with the Irish Pub.  The eight of us walk in and find a sign announcing it’s “Singles Night.”  Everyone looks at us as we walk in and stops talking (and the music might as well have stopped) but it’s too late to turn around now.  We decide sitting outside is the best option.  That is until the group next to us breaks out their vaping pipes and surround our entire table in vape smoke.   Leanne tries to ask them to stop and ends up with a couple guys hitting on her.  I guess the pub patrons figure even with a husband and six kids in tow, if you come to singles night at the ol Irish pub, you’re fair game.