Today we left Waitomo and drove to the smelly town of Roturua. We were supposed to do a forest walk, but due to the rain we all voted against it. We got to Roturua and had the afternoon to ourselves. It didn't smell as bad as we thought it would but there was definitely a sulphur odour int he air. So we had a walk around town with some of the girls. We first walked around the Kuirau Thermal Park. The autumn colours were beautiful and there were hot springs and mud pools. We then walked round to the lake front, although it looked like a sea it was so rough in that weather! Because there was so much fog it was hard the appreciate it fully but it was really beautiful! We went for a wonder round Government Park. In Maori it's called "Whangapipiro" which can be translated to "an evil smelling place". It was very pretty. We then wondered back to the hostel, getting a hot chocolate on the way.
In the evening we got picked up but Denis to go to the Tamaki Village. When we arrived the Maori people did a welcome ceremony to invite us into their village as friends rather than enemies. It was really fascinating. We had to have a chief to represent us and he had to accept their offering and and do the ... with their chief. Which was where they pressed noses twice sharing two breaths meaning that they were friends. Once the ceremony was over we went into the village where they had several different huts. In each hut they showcased different things that were Maori tradition. The first hut was a stick game which they used before war to speed up reaction times and train their people. Emma played it in the demonstration with two boys and ended up winning so she was pretty happy with that. The second hut showcased their weaving where they used flat plants to make all sorts of things. From bags and food baskets to blankets and clothing. From there we went to the next hut where they showed us the "fish bone". It was a ladder made out of sticks which they used this to perfect footwork. There were 51 levels, Emma got to have a go at level 1 which she completed but even that wasn't easy!! The next hut showed the different ways they do carving and then onto learning how to do the haka. The Maori guys were really scary and really got into it but also had a laugh with the guys that they were teaching to do it. At the last hut they showed us how to dance with this ball on the end of a string that the ladies use in traditional dance and to make music.
They then called us into the village meeting house where they performed a concert to showcase different dances and they sang about one of the Maori legends from Roturua lake. To finish the concert they did the female and male HAKA. It was amazing! The whole concert was fascinating we were both so engrossed watching them.
The next part of the evening was the Hangi. This is a meal cooked on hot coals under the ground. The cooking method give the food a smokey taste. It was delicious! We had carrots, potato, sweet potato, chicken, lamb, stuffing and bread. It was amazing! Then for pudding they had their traditional steamed pudding and custard and the New Zealand famous Pavlova! It's safe to say we were absolutely stuffed by the end of the evening! We got back on the transfer bus and Denis entertained us the whole way home with singing and then drove around a round-a-bout multiple times while he sang "she'll be riding six white horses when she comes". It was an amazing evening, really informative and very interesting!
In the morning we went to Te Puia before we headed out of Roturua. It is a geothermal park. So we walked around and saw all the mud pools, geysers and hot springs. It was really spectacular as there was hot steam all over the place, coming out the floor and off the top of the pools. We were also lucky enough to see a Kiwi Bird! That was really cool. Lastly, before we left the park the guide that took us round cooked us a load of boiled eggs in one of the pools! They were so yummy! Then we got on the bus and made our way to Taupo.