Day 08: Rotorua - Taupo

Our first stop of the day was in a place called 'Te Puia' home to the local geyser. There are very few around the world and this is one of those few.

Around this geyser they built some kind of arts school about the Maori culture and they show you different aspects of their lives.

This is also the place were I saw a real life kiwi (the bird) for the first time. :-)

First we went to the carving school.

Apparently Maori carvings are packed with meaning and those with the right knowledge can read them like books. Through carving Maori convey history moral values and honour ancestors. Different tribes around NZ have developed different styles and some people can tell from which part of the country a carving comes from by just looking at it.

Second was the school of weaving

Weaving has some specialities cloak weaving baketry mats and others

Then we moved on to see the volcanic area

According to the nearby inscription the below clay is formed by the acidic breakdown of rocks and soil from steam and gase and contains small quantities of black sulphur.

Then we went to a whole on the ground where there was boiling water coming out of it...and our guide boiled a few eggs for us :-)

some more mud pools

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and then we got to the geyser area



the shadow at the bottom right it's yours trully the big thing on the background is the geyser.

more video and pictures from the area

Right after that it was KIWI time!!!

as you can see from the picture above photography and video were not allowed. Kiwis are nocturnal and don't do well with flashes and noises... what they did in this place was to trick the bird by encasing them in a noiseless dark room we could see them but the birds couldn't see us...

This is what they look like

After that we went to visit the Huka Falls they say you can fill 7 olympic swimming pools per second with the amount of water flowing through... and I believe that... there was so much water and it was flowing so fast...

And finally made it to Taupo where I spent the night in a nice quiet lodge that had a cool vibe about it...

I know the name can be misleading... just a normal lodge though...

As tomorrow I am doing the famous Tongariro crossing I went to bed relatively early in preparation for the 05:00 am call.

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Day 07: Waitomo - Rotorua - The Maori experience

While still in Waitomo we went to visit the Ruakuri reserve...as with everything else in Waitomo...everything has to do with caves and this walk was no less. This is the place where you can find the Ruakuri and Aranui caves.

Apparently back at the beginning of the 20th century (1900s) this was a very popular touristic destination although people used to break off stalagtites to take home as souveniers and wrote their names on the cave walls... To prevent that they installed lights and security doors which altered temperature airflow and humidity conditions affecting the cave's plant and animal life.

Then we were dropped off at our accomodation and a few of us went to the lake to spend the afternoon

The first thing you notice when you get to Rotorua is the sulphur stench that invades your nostrils with every breath...

Then it was dinner time and for that we went to a Maori village where we would be having dinner and some local Maoris would tell us about their culture and how they used to do things...

I have to say this excursion was a mix bag...some good stuff with some very cheesy stuff... like these guys (our Maori hosts) dressing up in pelts and making jokes about X-factor. You either stay in character or you don't but that mix makes things look very cheesy and a bit of a sham.

First we were welcome to the village with a traditional Haka

Then we moved on to the village where on every hut there was someone explaining different aspects of their lifes...games they used to play weapondry etc...

This was the most interesting part for me...I even have a video of a Maori teaching me how to do a haka...but it' 5 minutes long and it would take me too long to upload...so I'm sorry to say you wonn't be able to see me being ridiculous once again. ;-)

Dinner was prepared in the traditional Maori way...buried.

Then there were some singing and dancing but that was a very cheesy part of the trip too... I mean...if you play the Maori don´t get a guitar and start singing! the guitar it's not very Maori...but the Polynesian songs were quite cool (although I haven't included any below)

The food was really good and we were all stuffed, but just as we were ready to get back to our accomodation the bus refused to start so without anyone getting off the bus only 7 "volunteers" ended up pushing it up the hill...let me just say that pushing a bus full of people up hill with a full stomach is not a very nice experience...

If you forget about the bus bit, it was a so so experience... in my case the jury is still out on whether I would recommended  it or not...I think every person would have a different opinion about it...



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