What's that Smell, Smell, Smell? Rotorua Day 2

We woke up early, as usual, allowing me time to become once again numbed and appalled by morning TV shows in UK-related countries. During the show, the host spilled coffee on herself and showed us all some muffins one of the crew had baked for her. On another show, the hosts openly mocked the guest, who I believe was the head of the Labour party or something. I cannot imagine Meredith Vieira spilling coffee on herself on camera or hearing Al Roker talking candidly about his corns or seeing Matt Lauer make fun of Howard Dean. It takes a lot to make me pine for the Today Show, but there you have it.

After the numbing, we headed out at 8:00 for breakfast at Lime Caffeteria, which was a great idea. I had eggs, and Gretchen had pancakes (of course) that came with the best, sweetest berries imaginable. We were even more surprised to learn that they are not actually in season – this is just how they are. The strawberries tasted like the ones in the US do after you add a lot of sugar. Delicious!

I generally do not like bus tours, but let me tell you: This one was terrific.

We headed south of town to Te Puia Maori cultural center, where we joined a walking tour and learned about Maori legends and their ways. We also got to see some kiwi birds, which I have completely fallen in love with since we got here. They are so cute! After the kiwis, we went to a Maori cultural show at 10:15. Before the presentation, a Dutch guy named Don was selected to be our chief. We all stood outside the Maori meeting house while one of the warriors came out and welcomed us to his land – it was a pretty threatening greeting. After Don accepted the warrior’s peace offering on our behalf, we were all welcomed into the house. They performed traditional Maori dancing, which reminded both of us of Hawaiian hula dancing. I volunteered to try poi dancing, and the performers also taught some of the guys from the audience how to do the haka, the Maori war dance. One of the old men from the audience got into the act – he took his shirt off! The performers did a dance that involved throwing sticks around, like group juggling. It was a terrific show. After the show, we got to see the Puhuku geyser erupt.

After Te Puia, we headed north of town again to the Agrodome, where they have some sort of sheep-shearing presentation, but we were not there for sheep. We were there to go zorbing! Friends, I say to you: Zorbing is the greatest thing imaginable. For those of you who haven’t heard me talk about it or seen it on The Amazing Race, zorbing involves climbing into a big plastic ball with an inner chamber (actually, you jump in Superman-style) partially filled with water and then rolling down a zigzag downhill course. Because of the water, you slip and slide inside the ball. It is not scary at all. There is not even a sensation of falling…it is more like getting thrown into a washing machine. It was a terrific ride. We both absolutely loved it.

Once we had Zorbed, we headed back to Rotorua town and went to the Rotorua Museum, which had terrific exhibits about the town’s history. It has always attracted people because of the geothermal baths and restorative healing waters. In 1886, though, nearby Mt. Tarawera erupted and totally changed the whole landscape. There was an interesting (and sad) exhibit about this eruption and about the tectonic happenings around Rotorua in general. The museum also had an exhibit showing the old bathhouses (essentially just a bunch of big closets with tubs in them).

After the museum, Gretchen went for a run along Lake Rotorua, and I drove around and explored a little more. I got some good pictures of the lake and the island in the middle of it. I also took some alone time to read a book in the park. Awesome! After our solo time, we met up again for a quick stop at the Polynesian Spa, which is a wonderful complex with pools of hot, very hot, and incredibly hot water from the springs underneath the city. The sulfur smell was not as strong as you would think, but the yellow deposits on all of the rocks in the spa were unmistakable evidence that sulfur is nearby. It is easy to see why the waters are said to have restorative powers – we both noticed that our skin felt softer as soon as we got in, and my knee and ankle (which I had twisted at the geothermal park the day before) felt great. The pools are outside and have great views of Lake Rotorua and the mountains surrounding the city.

We headed back to our hotel, where we were picked up for our evening outing, a trip to Tamaki cultural village south of town. This whole evening was a terrific experience and gave us a lot of insight into how the Maori came to New Zealand (or, as they call it, Aotearoa, “the land of the flat white clouds”). First we went to a visitor’s center in town and saw some movies about the Maori’s life in Tahiti prior to coming to New Zealand. Then we were herded back onto the bus for the ride to the village. I generally do not like bus tours, but let me tell you: This one was terrific. On the way down, the driver told us more about the Maori culture and got us into the spirit by having us elect a chief (this time, a bald Asian guy from LA named Homer) and having him lead us in “rowing the canoe” to the ceremony. Once we got to the Tamaki village, we were greeted with a ceremony very similar to the one we saw at Te Puia earlier today, but this time it was bigger and better…there was fire juggling this time! After the welcome, we went into the village and saw some demonstrations of food preparation and storage, weaving, and weapon making. After the demonstrations, we were taken into the meeting house for a terrific Maori dance show, including the ever-popular haka dance. The show was absolutely top-notch.

After the show, we went into the dining area to share a traditional hangi (earth oven) meal. Similar to a Hawaiian luau, the hangi meal involves cooking meat, potatoes, and so on by putting hot rocks into a hole, putting the food on top of the rocks, and letting it cook for 3 or 4 hours. As you might expect, this method results in absolutely perfect meat. We enjoyed hangi lamb, chicken, and fish as well as potatoes, carrots, and taro. They also served stuffing, which was a good surprise since we will be missing Thanksgiving this year. For dessert, they served chocolate pudding (=cake) made in the hangi oven as well as pavlova (a fluffy dessert) and fruit salad with plenty of kiwifruit, of course! Gretchen got to see a demonstration about how to make a hangi oven at home, so be sure you ask her to make hangi for you when we get back…I had to stay inside because it was freakin’ freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth, and I was wearing a skirt because my jeans were still drying in the hotel after I washed them. At the end of the evening, the performers showed up again (this time in street clothes) and sang us some more songs. The lead performer gave us a wonderful goodbye speech. I really felt like they were honored that we had all come from so far to learn about their culture. The bus ride home was even fun – our driver had us sing songs from our home countries, and she pulled a highly illegal move on the roundabout (i.e., driving around and around and around the traffic circle) while singing “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain” in Maori. She dropped everyone off at his or her hotel, and the whole bus waved goodbye to everyone as they left. I tell you, it was a wonderful experience. The only down side was that Gretchen mentioned the song “God Bless America,” so of course I started think-singing that song, and of course it was the 20-minute-long Celine Dion Song That Never Ends version of it.

Tomorrow we leave Rotorua. We have really enjoyed our two action-packed days here. The city is a really interesting place since it is such a special place for the Maori, but it has been a tourist attraction for Europeans and Americans since the 1850s. The city hall is in a Tudor style, which is unexpected until you realize how the cultures are mixing here. We’ll also miss having the opportunity to refer to “liquid hot mag-ma” and have it be in context. Anyway, next stop: Christchurch and wine, wine, wine!