Sunday morning I went to church with John to see what it was like. It was so similar to one I went to in Botswana, with singing and people on their feet the whole time. It was also modern, and they had an electric band on the stage, and people singing into microphones. After church we had lunch which was a salad, and then went to Howick Historical Village, which was very similar to Sain Ffagan. It showed how the Irish and British settlers first lived, the types of houses they had, the schools, etc. After that we went for a barbie at friends of John's (Ron and Faith), and their 2 teenage daughters. They were a lovely family, and it was a very nice evening.
It was an early start on Monday (6am) because I was catching the bus (nakedbus company - trips start on each bus at a dollar, and then each seat is a dollar more. Unfortunately the bus was pretty full so mine was $37! I have got a trip for $9 coming up though!!). I arrived in Rotorua at lunchtime, checked into the hostel (Rotorua Central Backpackers - it has no bunks, only single beds. Lush!!!). After lunch in the Pig & Whistle, which is an old police station (I'd had a voucher for a free drink there - Swine Lager!), I decided to follow a walk the lady at hostel reception had recommended. It took a while to find the start (I'm rubbish at reading maps, and not all the street names were on the map), but I eventually did and walked through Kuirau Park. This is a dynamic thermal area with spurting geysers, steaming hot springs and exploding mud pools. It was amazing, though it did stink of rotten eggs (especially if the wind blew the steam in your direction. Yuck!!). The smell is sulphur, and Rotorua is actually known as Sulphur City. At one part of the park you have to walk over a foot bridge, and there are hot springs each side, with so much steam you can't see anything. It was quite eerie walking over, especially as all the trees were bare, just branches. It was like some horror film or something. Pretty cool though.
After walking through the park I walked toward Lake Rotorua, and then on to Ohinemutu, which is a Maori VIllage. There I saw an Anglican church (St. Faiths), and a Meeting House (Tama Te Kapua). These were very beautiful buildings with fantastic wood carvings. I couldn't take any photos inside, though. I then went for an ice cream (I had been told they were the best in Rotorua and had to try one, so had an Orange Choc Chip one). I headed back to the hostel after this because I was being picked up at 5:45 to go to Mitai Maori Village, which is an actual Maori site.
The bus taking me there must have been the creakiest bus I think I've been on!! When we arrived we went straight to the dining room and were put on tables. There must have been about 150 people there that evening, and it's not even holiday season yet. Our guide for the night, John (half Maori, half Brit!) asked us to shout out where we all came from, and would then say a word or 2 in that language. To me he said Croeso, sut wyt ti? and prydferth. At the end of the night he said Nos Da. I was very impressed. After listening to us talking for a while (where we choose a chief for our tribe of many nations!), we went out to see the hangi (ground cooked meat) cooking. We wthen went for a walk through the forest, and saw warriors running and chanting.
We then walked up to the stream (which had water flowing directly from the earth at Fairy Springs). We saw a Waka (ancient warrior canoe) go past, with warriors in it chanting. We were then seated for a performance. We were welcomed by their chief, after our chief (some guy from England) had to make a speech and accept a token.
After this had all been done, the Maori tribe performed for us by dancing, singing, chanting, performing the Haka, and showing their musical instruments and weapons. Once they had finished this, we all headed back to the dining room for food. For food we had lamb, chicken and kumara (sweet potato - traditional Maori dish) - all cooked under ground. We also had rice, corn, salad and broccoli. For dessert there was a chocolate log, trifle, and papaya.
After eating, and to finish off the evening, we went for a walk into the forest (at this point it was dark) so we could look at the different trees (including the silver fern), and also to look at glow worms. All in all it was a pretty amazing evening and well worth the money. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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