Shawn the Prawn

To Taupo, New Zealand -- March 8-9 -- Day 1-2

We spent two days here in Taupo. It rained hard the night before last at the Waiotapu Tavern, and with no end in sight we decided to skip the geyser and hot spring park just down the road -- the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and the 9:45 geyser performance. Unfortunately, the Pfyffer’s pop top van was leaking, so they were much less happy with many of their belongings wet. Instead of the hot springs, we decided instead to visit the Volcanic Activity Center after a stop at the bakery for a much needed cup of coffee.

The small museum was quite interesting and highlighted the many volcanic and seismic events that have happened in New Zealand over the last hundred years or so. The short film about Mt. Ruapehu, showed footage of the most recent eruptions, in '95-'96 and again in 2007 when an earthquake caused by the volcano sent millions of tons of mud, rock, and water from a mountain top lake down the Whangaehu River. Interestingly, Mt. Ruapehu continues to be a popular downhill ski resort.

Footage of the volcano explosion at Mt Ruapehu in 2007

Aftermath of 2010 Christchurch Quake

Due to the prospect for more heavy rain and the state of the Pyffer's van, we selected indoor sleeping accommodations for a couple nights -- a couple small cabins at a campground in Taupo. Indeed, there had been unprecedented flooding on the North Island, particularly in and around Auckland, and more was on the way.

In any event, the kids were thrilled to call it an early day and wasted no time finding the trampoline, playground, and TV room. Unfortunately, much of Etienne's and my time and energy was spent contacting Share-A-Camper with regards to our continuing camper problems. For Etienne, the goal was a replacement vehicle. After a half dozen phone calls, he finally got agreement that he would be permitted to cancel his rental and leave the car here at the campground. The next crucial step was finding a replacement vehicle.

Camp kitchen clean up

For Friday, the highlight of the day was clearly our visit to the Huka Prawn Park. Ever since Thailand, where Anne had found a shell museum in Phuket, there has been an unofficial search for the most obscure (and boring) activities. Anne discovered yesterday that within an hour’s drive of us is a famous carrot museum as well as a gumboot (rain boot) museum. We all feigned excitement, especially Etienne. However, Anne announced another touring option when she discovered the nearby prawn park.

The park is, in fact, a working prawn and trout farm. By adding a few short piers, some informational signs, and a mascot, Shawn the Prawn, they've created a small tourist attraction on top of the farming business. There were a half dozen large ponds each with thirty to forty thousand prawns in them. At least, that's what the signs said. Based on our success rate after two and a half hours, I’d say the actual number was closer to about... seventeen, of which seven were caught by the nine of us.

For a small fee, you were given a bamboo pole with a small length of nylon fishing line and a hook. The recommended method was to lower the baited hook to the bottom of the shallow pond and wait a few minutes for some hungry prawn to grab it and start eating the bait. Then, and only then, you should very slowly pull up the line. Once you have the succulent prawn within a few inches of the surface it would simply flick it’s tail, leaving you with an empty hook. What could be more fun!

Success!

Mmm, dinner!

In the intense competition between the two families, the Hoornaert's soundly routed the Pfyffer's, six to one. (Meg contends the actual contest was between the women and men, where the final tally was five to two). In all honesty, it was very addictive. Something like playing a slot machine because you were always convinced the next toss of the line was sure to bring the big pay out. Since you could actually see the little buggers grabbing the bait and nibbling to their hearts' content, you were sure the next time would result in success.

A snack: munching down on the cooked and seasoned prawns

Since the seven prawns only whet our appetite, tonight was a huge spaghetti dinner (thanks to Etienne) and a game of Hearts afterwards for Anne, Etienne, Meg, Dex and I. We learned that Anne has an interesting habit of fanning her cards putting the front card on the left not the right. I never knew it was possible, but in that case you cannot see any of the card numbers! I always knew there was something strange about her!  Meanwhile, Kylie read from the book of riddles she’d found at the camp -- if a house has four walls and they all face south, what color is the bear outside?

Answer:  White - it's a Polar Bear with his house on the North Pole.  Good on you if you answered correctly!