Today we went with Olivia for brunch with the Henshaws. It was nice to meet the boys and their parents, and to get a proper English fry up for breakfast! And to meet Bluey of course. After brunch we took a walk with them to their local beach, Long Bay, then finished at a bakery for a nice cake!

After that Rob and I set off to Rotarua. The weather turned a bit rainy but we still loved the scenery. We arrived at our motel just in time, as shortly after our bus arrived to take us to the Tamaki Maori village show.

The driver was really funny, and due to Rob being on the front row he ended up being nominated as the Kiwi bus' chief - Chief Rob! When we got there Rob had to represent our 'tribe' as the villagers did a performance of a welcome dance/display. It also meant he had to pick up a fern leaf offering and carry it around with us for the rest of the night!

Chief Rob showed led us into the village. As it was raining quite heavily by now we didn't get much of a tour, just a short demonstration of how to use some strange training Pom things on strings. We then went inside to look at the traditional Hangi dinner, a full roast dinner cooked in pits underground. They showed us how they made it and dug it in.

We then went into a village hall type building where we got several demonstrations of traditional Maori songs and dances, and then the Hakka! As our chief Rob got picked on to go up to the front and learn the Hakka, it was hilarious! It was very fun.

After all the entertainment we went into the main hall for our Hangi cooked dinner, a full roast dinner with all the trimmings! It tasted lovely, a bit smokey but we liked it, especially the gorgeous lamb! After there was also a very nice peach meringue pie for dessert - apparently the kiwis think they invented meringue!

After our lovely dinner there was another couple of songs from the waiting staff, then another Hakka - and one last Hakka for all the men to join in. So I got to film rob doing it again!

We then headed back on the bus to our hotel with our bus driver making everyone sing songs. It was a good evening and we really enjoyed it, even if it didn't feel very authentic!