Managed to get a lot of sleep meaning that we got started a bit later than expected, but were still on the road by about 10:00. Heather kindly lent us her car so we could get to and around Rotorua easily. Arrived there at around 11:00 and stopped off at the Fat Dog café for a much needed caffeine boost and some caramel cake. Decided to take a look round the museum, originally designed as a spa to take advantage of the acid and alkaline springs and mud baths in the area. Got given a guided tour of the museum's highlights, which included a very good exhibition on Māori history and culture, some modern art and preservation of tools and rooms from the building's former life as a spa.

We then wandered around a bit more before strolling round Rotorua lake and its sulphur springs (smelly). Took a little bit longer than expected on our walk (we learnt that the Kiwis drive pretty much everywhere, and that we would need to follow suit if we wanted to see all the things we wanted to see) and had to rush back to the car (via a bakery for a pie snack!) in order to get to Te Puia in time for the Māori performance and guided tour of the centre.

The show was interesting if not a bit contrived; though in any culture, it's difficult to portray that kind of thing tastefully - especially when there are truckloads of tourists at any one time. In our case, we arrived the same time as a Japanese tourist bus which meant our view of the culture show was obscured by a sea of digital cameras trying to capture 'the moment'. The singing, poi dancing and Haka were good though.

In the same park, we also saw two very active geysers, lots of mud pools and an interesting photo exhibition of Māori history. There was also a kiwi house with two kiwis cooped up in the dark, we only saw the back end of one that was either dead or asleep. Hopefully the latter was true. The site also had a weaving and carving school to teach people the traditional Māori crafts.

Anyone could participate in the weaving classes, though the carving school would only accept people that could prove they were at least 1/8 Māori, were aged 18-30 and were Male. Strong cultural beliefs hold that it is forbidden for women to touch certain sacred things ("Tapu"). The Te Puia institute offered scholarships to only a small number of men lasting 3 years, in a bid to resurrect the traditions that had at one point been endangered.

We wanted to take Ben & Heather out to dinner to thank them for their hospitality, so we drove back to Tauranga (via a different route) and realised that we didn't have a clue where they lived! Usually google maps' GPS is our fallback but we couldn't access any data. Eventually, we pulled into the docks area (near Mt Maunganui) to ask for directions. Thankfully, the guys there seemed to know which Western Rd we were looking for, and managed to direct us there successfully.

We then popped out to the 'riviera' of Tauranga for a lovely Turkish feast before packing our bags up once again ready to hit the road (well, skies) bright and early tomorrow.