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We arrived in Rotorua and (thanks to Mistress Love's wonderous advice) we were prepared for a rotten egg smell that is apparently the perfect accompaniment to thermal activity which the area is famous for. We got dropped off at some mud pools and my lord did they pong!! Luckily, when we actually got into the town of Rotorua the smell wasnt constant and it was actually ok!
Anywho, Rotorua is one of the first places that we have been to recently that properly took onboard the spirit of christmas and this meant that we were woken up at 8 oclock every morning with christmas carols! Whey! Although getting the holly and the ivy in my head first thing and then for the rest of the day made it kind of a long day!!
When the Kiwi bus dropped us off we went to a Maori educational centre where we sat through talks on Maori history and paid for the cultural evening that we were going to that evening. Oh my goodness it was so much fun! We got on the bus in the evening and were met by the cutest and insanest (did I just make a new word?!) bus driver called Dennis. He was so funny, he had everyone acting out as though they were rowing a boat (luckily Em and I got away without participating but Jo got involved for us both!). After much giggling we arrived at the Maori village where we were going to watch dances and hear Maori songs (and the haka!!) and then have a Moari dinner.
But before all this could happen our bus needed to have a chief (a strong man person to represent us to the chief of the Maori village). Ours ended up being this humoungous bloke called Rick, who was on honeymoon and was so sweet! Anywho....we all got lead into the village into a type of ampitheatre (quiet small though) in which the warriors of the Maori tribe displayed their power through dancing and pulling faces - we were forbidden to laugh or smile during this bit so focussed hard on filming it! Anywho, the chief of the village then came in and selected a chief off the buses to give a gift of welcome to. That done we were all welcomed into the village - KiaOra I say to you all!
We watched the warriors demonstrate their weapons and their gurningness which was very cool and got to look round a traditional Moari village and see the Moari women explaining what their jobs were in the village and the tools they would use. All of the members of the Maori tribe had on full dress and tattoos - it was pretty amazing actually.
We then got taken into a theatre and there was much singing and dancing. They performed the Haka (bit different to the rugby one but very impressive!) They incorporated their weapons and tools into the dance aswell which made it even better!
Then it was dinner time!!!! YUM!!! And for Emma and Jo I say YUM YUM!!!! It was a mahoosive buffet with the most delicious food! Made even better by the fact that supernoodles have been our basic rations for a while! Anywho...back to the buffet!! The food was cooked in the traditional method in a cooking hole in the ground and it was fab! There was chicken, lamb, mussels, roast potatoes, carrots, GRAVY! Urm....salady stuff, pasta salads, fish pie...and probably much more stuff that I ate but have forgotten about! But rest assured it tasted gooooooooood!
For dessert (even though we had eaten so much we felt really sick!) we took advantage of the steam pudding, fruit salad, pavlova (which NZ claim is their own) and.....CUSTARD!!!! Oh the joy!
After that Dennis and his mates sung everyone a song and made us all hold hands and sway in an 80s fashion - twas fun - it helped that Em and I had to hold hands with a cute old man with a passing resemblance to the great man himself....SANTA!
After being wished Merry Christmas (for the first time! Whey!) we set off for home and Dennis was even more insane!! We were having sing alongs and Blind Date style "get to know the rest of the bus"! He started singing "she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes" and went around and around the roundabout for 5 minutes to emphasise his point!!
He then insisted that we all said goodbye to him in the following manner....shake his hand and say KiaOra Dennis the Menace! Oh how can you refuse such a cute old man?!
The next day Em and Jo went to the geyser park down the road and saw many a geyser erupting and bubbling away - lots of videos for you to watch if you are unclear of the method! They also saw their first Kiwi bird...or at least its backside anyway!!
Then we left for Auckland.... one of our last stops and to reunite with our fishy family!! Kate, Janni and Atle we are coming to get you!!!!!!!!!! xxxx
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