Friday - we headed on down to Rotorua today, main roads much of the way so the scenery was less interesting today. The town of Rotorua is at the south end of the large lake of Rotorua and a centre of volcanic activity and Maori culture. The town itself is quite big and as you walk/drive along you can see steam rising from the ground and fenced off areas of bubbling mud - and it is a bit smelly if the wind is in the wrong direction, a rotten eggs kind of smell!! We headed straight for the wonderfully efficient i-site (tourist info) to get their assistance on where to stay and which Maori cultural experience to do and ended up on a campsite at the edge of the lake on the outskirts of town, which has its own minerals pools and bubbling mud but isn't too smelly!! We had a chill out afternoon, getting some washing done and wandering on the lake shore then got picked up to go to our evening at Tamaki. The bus picked up from various campsites/ hotels round town, and at the stop after ours, a lady from Branston village got on and the one after - Frankie Detorri got on, with his wife and five children!! We arrived at the village, having selected our own chief for the evening, who then had to face the challenge from the chief of the village we were visiting - he looked nervous! Then we went round the village in small groups to learn about various activities - the haka, carving, weaving, agility training - really interesting and fun, we joined in with some of them - so I have some funny videos! After this we watched the hangi being dug up. Hangi is a Maori way of cooking in a pit in the earth over a few hours - the meat and veg kind of steam and get a nice earthy taste - we then ate the food which was delicious and watched a performance - so a lovely evening!! After the food, Eric collared frankie Detorri for a drink, he seemed very nice - it was his birthday apparently, so we all sang happy birthday to him on the bus on the way home, and I got a goodnight kiss - he did smell lovely (Frankie that is - not Eric!!)