Rotorua is several hours southwest of Auckland, and it is one of the most concentrated volcanic areas in the world. To top that off, Maori make up about 1/3rd of the city's population, so there is great opportunity to learn about the culture even more. We've been waiting to go to a "cultural show" here since our arrival in New Zealand. We saved it to visit with our friend Eric, who came all the way from Idaho to visit. I know that none of us was disappointed in our time in Rotorua!
Rotorua sits on Lake Rotorua, a volcanic caldera and the second largest lake in New Zealand. We got some lovely shots in the early morning. In the distance, you can even see some of the thermal activity. Pretty much anywhere you look, there is steam rising.
Besides the tell-tale sulphur smell in the air (which L described as smelling like a poached egg), it was a bit surreal to see steam rising, not only from the blocked off areas, but piles of rock that were seemingly placed there not too long ago because of new hot-spots developing.We also saw steam rising in the landscape, such as on people's farms, as we drove around as well. We completely see why this is such an active volcanic field. By the way, that's boiling mud!
We were able to test out the intensity of the heat as well by sticking our feet in a pool that was tempered with some cold water.
The kids were just as impressed (or maybe even more impressed--but I am afraid to ask) by the whirl pool on our patio at the hotel:
The Maori cultural evening that we had hosted by the Matai iwi was fantastic. There are a number of cutural shows, but one of R's Maori colleagues at the university who is from Rotorua said this was the most authentic shows and, although there were some corny parts, overall we were extremely impressed.
The whole deal seemed to be staffed by members of the family--from the emcee, to the patriarch who welcomed us, to the cousins who were serving, cooking, and entertaining us. Part of the evening included the hangi, which may be easiest to describe as the Maori version of a luau. Here's how the food is cooked:
But before we could dig in, we experienced a waka entrance and a long entertaining program describing the history and culture of the Maori, as well as song, dance, a haka, and many other elements. It kept the kids and us enthralled all the way to about 8 p.m. We were starving by that point!
After that we had a night tour of the grounds, saw some replicas of Maori homes built on the original site, and got to see some glow worms. Glow worms are fairly prevalent here in certain areas. They look almost like blue LED Christmas lights suspended a bit above the natural spring, but then we could see them other places as well. So cool! The kids took it all in and were quite the troopers. We got back to the hotel away later than their bedtime.
On our way home, we did some other touristy things in the area. We visited the Green and Blue lakes, but really, we couldn't see the difference in the colors. No pictures of those. We visited Lake Tarawera, where a spirit waka was seen a couple hours before a huge volcanic eruption in the 1880s. The eruption covered the pink and white terraces (which were a tourist attraction even in the 19th century and deemed one of the seven--or maybe the eighth--natural wonder of the world) and a Maori village.
The lake levels rose quite a bit too, and we got to see some old Maori rock paintings of waka (and maybe a sea monster) that were discovered after the water receded.
We had NO idea that this is how kiwi grows.
And, finally, we have come to love a New Zealand favorite; Lemon and Paeroa, or more affectionately known as L&P. It tastes a bit like a less sweet Sprite. So, of course, since we were in the area of Paeroa, we had to stop and see the giant soda bottle.
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