Tuesday 17th April – Rotorua and the Maori Village

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Our destination today is Rotorua the volcanic hub of New Zealand. We drive approximately 120km due East of Waitomo on route 30 taking in some breathtaking scenery. Today is mainly a travel day and to catch up with the washing. We arrived at our “Top Ten” Holiday camp on the Blue Lake at about 3.00pm. The one thing you can say for Rotorua is that it stinks of sulphur (rotten eggs). Basically it reminds me of a smelly Las Vegas!

The weather is pretty good today but we are expecting a cold night!

Rotorua is the hub of Maori culture in New Zealand so we book on the Tamaki Maori Village toru which encompasses a twilight cultural tour to a “Morai” (Meeting House) and Maori village.

After chilling out most of the afternoon and doing our washing we get picked up at 6.45 to drive to the Maori Village. On the coach our “Chief” is chosen to be presented to the Maori warriors. After an eye boggling and tongue protruding display by the 4 Maori warriors we are welcomed into the village. We wander around the village viewing some of their cultural activities and crafts before watching a live Maori show including traditional singing and dancing including the infamous “Haka”. We then enjoyed a traditional “Hangi” which is a meal of meat and vegetables cooked in a underground oven of hot rocks.

After singing songs on the bus back to town we hit the hay in preparation for white water rafting tomorrow.

Ta Ta for now K & M

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