Then, on through increasingly volcanic and forested countryside to Rotorua where we are spending two nights. It started to rain as we arrived. Our hotel is pretty modern and on the lakeside and we could see sulphuric steam rising from the area around and, by George, we could smell it too. The whole town reeks of sulphur but you get used to it within a couple of minutes.

We unpacked and then drove to the Rotorua Tourist Office where we were being picked up to go to the Matai Maori Village for a cultural evening. Had a really good time. We were welcomed by a large group of Maori and taken down to through their forest to the river to see the Chief rowed upstream in a war canoe by his warriors. Then we were shown our dinner roasting on hot lava stones covered in leaves. Smelled gorgeous. The Maoris put on a great show of dancing and warrior skills for us. We'd seen some of the dances in the show on board but these guys are national prizewinning dancers and really excelled. The Haka in particular was excellent. Rotorua is the centre of Maori culture and it is very strong here. It is interesting, there is not the same aura of sadness with the Maoris that there seems to be with regards to Native Americans and Australian Aborigines. After the show, we had a large dinner of lamb, chicken and various salads. Then we went on another walk through the forest just with torches, looking at the trees and ferns. At one point, we all turned our torches off and there were hundreds of glow-worms all around us. An amazing sight to see.

Back to the hotel by about 10, absolutely knackered again. Had a lovely long Facetime conversation with Lu and hope to catch Daisy too.