My Caving Holiday

[lemonaxis]

Well I have just been away for a wonderful holiday with my 2 children and baby too of course.

We went CAVING!! It was so aweome.inkelepht:

We went on a 3.5 hour tour of 2 fantastic caves and if I haven't said so enough...we had the time of our lives!!!

I thought it would be really difficult to drive 4 hours down and look after the kids on my own (my partner had too many work committments
Instead it was easy and so much fun....of course lots of hard work and lots of sleepless hours as baby was teething and was a bit awed by the new surroundings of our holiday park cabin.

My two kids were brilliant and helped me with baby too.:inlove:

Besides caving we went to a rabbit shearing show and there are pics below.

So happy.....:bunnydance:

Lisaurplepansy:

The cave entrance

The buns MUST be sheared or their fur will knit and the rabbit will die from over heating. It takes only 3 months for their fur to grow long enough to shear. The way the bun is tied up (strange to see; is an old german tradition and actually the rabbit was very calm and relaxed throughout). Their ancestors are the Persina Mountain rabbits and although there is no proof, it is assumed there are no more left in the wild. The german angora rabbits are ONLY found in this one place in New Zealand and apparently are a rarity overseas except obviously in Rottweiler where they originate.

They are fed an extremely expensive pellet (don't know the name). They are not given any carrots or apples as it may dmage their valuble fur. Their fur is used to make all sorts of luxury items.

The rabbits are spoilt rotten and although there are pics of them in cages with no toys etc, it turns out they live on a farm with 350 other buns and the cages are holding cells as they wait to be shorn.
They are handled a lot and are very tame. They are bred only to replenish their numbers and are basically farmed for their fur.
They are treated like royalty and the whole show was really out of it to watch.

They would be extremely expensive to buy but are not for sale as it turns out and I could never afford one anyway and also they require specialist care. Whew!!!!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Beautiful cave photos! Did you have to carry the baby in a pack?

That bunny looks to be stretched out with bungies .... that's kinda sad

He does look to enjoygetting the hair off of him!

 

[TK Bunnies]

Wow!! That's VERY cool!!! I love the picture of the stalagtits (I bet this is the wrong one, I get them mixed up, stalegtits or stalegmits?)

Awwwww.. The buns in the pics were SOOOOOOOOO cute!! I didn't know that if you didn't shave them they'd die!!! WOW :shock:

 

[Munchkin]

Those pics are amazing!
Thanks for sharing the angora experience - thats really fascinating.

Glad you had a great time!

 

[lemonaxis]

How's this for a dissapproving bun ? lol

 

[lemonaxis]

Well I can't say I approve or dissapprove of the shearing methods used but even though bun looks very stretched out, it was also a very light stretch and not all strung out. Bun was used to the shear and was actually lying in the stretched out position before the bungy was attached.
Bun needs to be secured so the shearers do not slice their extremely thin skin. They are sheared very close to the skin.

I suppose these guys are bred for their fur, live long luxurious lives and get shorn every 3 months so getting tied up may look so weird to us but the buns are used to it and suffer no stress or discomfort.

The buns have very spoilt personalities as a result of their pampering and won't even offer you a second glance. You can pet them though and they just lay there as if they are owed the world.

So cute.

And yeah I carried baby in a Wilkinet frontpack. She comfort fed most of the trip and slept the other half. She cried a couple of times as it was pitch black in the caves and at times we had to switch our lights out so we could see the glow worms.

More pics of those soon.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I imagine they are comfy with it and feel better getting the fur off. They probably tak it as a form of grooming. I just did the nails, and brshed everyone a bit. Clover actually can't get to a couple of places since her little leg is crooked. She loved when I gently rubbed and pulled all the hair that was loose. I thought she would fall asleep and she's highly nervous!

Sounds like you all had fun! I take my kids and go places a lot. Hubby's work doesn't allow him to take off a bunch. I took the kids to Alabama a few years ago. Luke went to space camp for the week and Lexi and I took little trips up to Chattanooga and things like that. We had a great time.