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Published: December 6th 2005
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From Franz Joseph we headed onto Nelson and stayed at the paradiso backpackers - an unusual but fun hostel with good facilities and unusual in that the tv lounge and internet facilities are up ladders through holes in the ceiling. Whilst staying there I had the opportunity to catch up with my friend Paula who used to work in Enfield and try some of the local wines. It was really good fun to catch up with Paula - she and her sister kindly showed us some of the delights of Nelson and I was able to sample some of the delightful seafood. So we said goodbye to the beautiful south island of New Zealand - it was gorgeous -if you get the chance go there!
So we hired a car on the north island as well and drove up to Rotorua - this area is famed for its geothermal activity and also for the opportunities to experience / learn abit more about the maori culture. Whilst here we saw some of the bubbling mud pools -which we all put on our faces as face masks as you do. We were then told by a worker at the nearby geothermal
park that we should wash it off our faces quick smartish as it has a pH of 2 and may peel off our skin - this was no problem as we were going for a swim in the twin rivers anyway. The twin rivers was not in the guide book but was recommended to us by a local with a bit of a grudge against a certain lonely guidebook maker! As you may have guessed by the title the twin rivers is two rivers (Shock horror) which join together - nothing unusual about that but here's the interesting part - one river is hot e.g. bathwater temperature and the other is cold! So if you get too hot you just swim across to the other side of the confulence and you are in cool water. Its quite shallow too so its safe - it was really lovely to swim in. Its located just beyond the visitor centre for Wai - O -Tapu thermal wonderland for any travellers reading this who would like to try it.
In the evening we signed up for a maori hangi and culture evening with Mitai which was really good. The Hangi is the
traditional maori method of cooking which involves the food being cooked slowly underground (ours had been cooking for 3 hours apparently) and was certainly delicious when we consumed it! Firstly though we went to a reconstruction of a Maori village and were greeted in the traditional manner by the tribe which involved a warrior presenting us with a gift of peace to our elected "chief". Then the chief of the village made a speech in Maori greeting us to the village and our chief reciprocated with a speech of thanks and our tribe sang a maori song of peace. Then there was much dancing and singing by the "inhabitants" of the village -the various songs were translated into english. The maori people no longer live in this way -they have joined the western world but they like to keep the culture and traditions alive by passing it down the generations. Approximately 25% of the new zealand population are maori and only 5% speak maori fluently. As a part of the show they got us to repeat some maori words and also explained the meaning of some traditional tattoo's such as the owl and the bat. Following the meal we were
taken on a short bush walk in the forest and our guide explained about the various plants and their medicinal / symbolic properties - we also got to see some glow-worms and a beautiful natural pool. It was a really fun evening and was good to learn a bit more about the Maori culture.
The next morning we went to Wai - O - Tapu thermal wonderland which is supposed to contain the most concentrated area of geothermal activity in new zealand. This was really interesting and included the champagne pool, various craters ( some with boiling mud/water at the bottom and some with steaming fumeroles (vents where gas escapes)) and geysers. The craters were formed not by eruptions but because they collapsed due to the heat of the underground rivers. The entire area is heated by (Dr evil style) magma and it's fascinating to see how the various minerals in the area affect the colours of the water and rocks - just take a look at the photo's. Although sad to leave Rotorua we knew we would not miss the smell of sulphur which was very strong in some places!
Waitomo is an area famous for its
The Maori Hangi
The food is baked underground for 3 -4 hours on hot coals and the method of cooking is called the Hangi -not to be confused with the Hongi which is the pressing of noses together as a greeting! caves and particularly the glow worms contained within some of them - we went on a short tour through the famous glow worm cave which included a walk through the main chamber called the catherdral where apparently the Beatles, Rod Stewart and various other artists have performed at different points in time because of the good acoustics. It does have some spectacular stalagmite's and stalagtite's and apparently is the smallest cave in the area, the longest being approximately 15km. We boarded a boat that went through the part of the cave where the glow worms inhabit -it was truly spectacular and amazing however we were not allowed to take photo's as we may have caused the glow worms lights to go out. They put the lights on to attract insects and let down sticky trails to catch the insects as they fly towards the light which are called the fishing lines.
Well no visit to new zealand is complete without a visit to the shire is it? The shire is of course the name of the region the hobbits live in (in the books by J.R.R. Tolkien). We did a tour of the old movie set of Hobbiton (
the hobbit village/ town) near Matamata which is the only part of new zealand where you can see parts of the set still intact. However they are a shell of their former selves and very different from the movie. There are various stills of the film and construction around the area and an informative commentry given throughout with plenty of time for the obliatory photo's! I may have to purchase the Lord of the Rings dvd now having visited a few of the places that it was made!
Well we are in Auckland now and fly to Fiji in a couple of days time, we will be there for 2 weeks and arrive into Sydney just before christmas. I think all christmas presents are on their way now - sorry I couldn't get everyone a pressie but I hope those who do will enjoy their presents! Not sure what the internet access will be like in Fiji so I may not be able to respond to your emails over the next two weeks. Hope you are all good and enjoying the snow you lucky things!
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Clare
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Devil's Bath
I like the picture of the Devil's Bath - is it just algae or something that makes it that colour? Hope you're having fun Love Clarexx