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Sunday 31st October 2010 – Base, Rotorua
Kia Ora!!
Wow!!! We have had an absolutely amazing day today!! Just had to write it down before I forgot it all!!
We left Mercury Bay, Whitianga this morning and were picked up by our bus at 7:30am and headed to Rotorua – our next overnight stop.
We went for our first proper walk/hike in New Zealand through the Karangahake Reserve (old gold mines) which took us through pitch black railway tunnels up through the caves and over swing bridges! Was really good (even though it was only about 40minutes to get through the trail) but soo cold!!! The weather here is so weird – hot, but the wind is so cold!!
Dreading to think how cold its guna be when we get to the South Island!!
After that we headed to a town called Matamata which was the filming location for the hobbits village in The Lord of the Rings. We didn’t get to do the tour of the village though which we were quite disappointed (wasn’t part of our bus tour). We just stopped here for lunch, then back onto the bus for another hour to get to Rotorua.
We knew we had arrived because of the strong smell of eggs!!! It absolutely stunk!! This is the town (a.k.a Sulphur City) that’s famous for its geysers, boiling mud pools, hot springs, thermal pools etc. .
Luckily were only here for 1 night so wont be long till were breathing in the fresh air again. Apparently the air here is really good for asthmatics or people with breathing problems because of the sulphur??? Matt says he can’t tell any difference though!
Once we arrived at our next overnight stop – Hot Rocks (Base) Rotorua, we had a bit of an issue with our accommodation to sort out and because the lady who was serving us was on such a high/buzz because of the big group of us checking in, once she’d sorted our problem out she completely forgot to charge us for our room and just handed us the keys!! Ha,ha!! Get in!! Not only that, she also upgraded us to a private room with our own kitchen and bathroom!! Amazing!! Or as the Kiwi’s would say. . . . “Sweet as!!” lol!! Won’t bother explaining all the details – not that exciting!
So after all of that, we had plans to go to the Tamaki Maori Village for entertainment and dinner – what an absolutely brilliant evening we’ve had.
We were picked up about 6:00pm and were taken to a village that was a complete set of ancient forest of the Ngati Tama people. We all had to stand around this area whilst the tribe came out and rein acted exactly what it would be like back in those days if we were to come face to face with the tribe and how we would be greeted. We weren’t allowed to smile, laugh or make any expression on our faces – everything was to be taken seriously! It was soo good though – the actors were brilliant – full costumes and make up!
We got to walk around their village and they talked to us about all different things such as how they trained their warriors, how they caught their food in traps, how they did their “tattoos”, etc. . .
After that, we were then invited to eat their traditional ground cooked hangi. A hangi is their traditional way of cooking food underground on a certain type of rock which is then cover with sheets and dirt in a dug out hole in the ground – the food in these holes can serve up to 200 people!!
The food was the best we’ve had since we’d gone away – and it was “all you can eat”! Chicken, beef, potatoes, stuffing, bread, salad, gravy, carrots and even dessert!!! We both stuffed ourselves with as much as we could fit in!! Was soooo good!!
The night was then finished off with the famous tribal dance “The Haka”!!
Our driver on our mini bus there and back was hilarious; we laughed all the way there and all the way back! Our kiwi driver could say hello in 62 different languages and even in their accents – so we of course heard all 62!!
On the way back he sang national anthems of the countries in their accents too! He then decided to drive round a roundabout, about 10 times singing a song about it! (All of this may not sound so funny reading – but honestly it was hilarious!!) ha,ha,ha!!
Anyway, were off to bed now , just had to write all this down because tomorrow is going to be another busy day and im sure we’ll have more to tell then!! We’re off to a town called Waitomo!
Lotsa love xoxox
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