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Neither of us slept well at Cactus Jack's - the bed was terrible, and the place was noisy. We checked out, and had breakfast at a nearby cafe before driving back to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.
We stopped to see the nearby mudpools, bubbling away from the underground steam. Inside the park we were treated to pools of boiling chemicals of every colour, silicate terraces, more mud pools, smelly sulphur pits and low fog. We took some super pictures of this unusual area as we walked around, and then got back in the car for a short drive up the road.
We showed our tickets again, and were amongst the first people to arrive to see the 1015am eruption of the Lady Knox geyser. Said to have been discovered when a dirty work party from the nearby prison tried to wash their clothes in a geothermal pool (a hundred years ago), the Lady Kox Geyser is enticed to erupt daily at 1015am by the addition of 300 grams of soap. After an entertaining commentary from a park staff member, the geyser reached a height of about 20 metres.
We made some stops along the highway to check out some
Devil's Home
Big deep pit with sulphur at the bottomof the other local sights, and stopped at the Buried Village of Te Wairoa. This is a partly excavated and reconstructed village and museum that describes the events of over 100 years ago, when a local volcano erupted, burying many people and the village (Maori and settlers) in mud and burning ash on a summer evening. Outside, we explored the excavations and enjoyed a walk to the base of a beautiful waterfall.
Later we checked in at the Kiwi Oaka YHA hostel. The room was a lot quieter, and the hostel had some interesting features such as beer and wine tasting. I found the staff a little rude though. We booked a Maori hangi for that evening, and then headed north of town to the Agrodome!
The Agrodome is definitely touristy, but was one of my favourite places so far. Set on a huge farm, we waited in a large hall with wooden pew-like benches for the show to start, surrounded by sheep and farming implements. The host, a charesmatic sheep shearer provided a hilarious one hour educational demonstration. We learned 19 different types of sheep, how they are sheered, how the wool is used and sorted,
Champagne Pool
Red, Blue and the water was bubbling! and how cows are milked and how the sheep are controlled by the dogs.
Eric was selected to be one of the audience members who milked the cow, and he got a compliment on how well he did! Afterwards we took some super photos with the sheep and then saw a brief demo outside of how the sheep are controlled by the dogs.
We made a quick stop to see the zorbing ( a NZ specialty, where you are rolled downhill inside a huge plastic ball....) and then went back to the hostel. I drove down to the internet cafe, and was back in time to leave with Eric for the hangi.
A 'hangi' is a Maori pit-style BBQ and ours included a special concert as well. A bus picked us up from the hostel and took us to Mitai ('mee- tie'). There, we were seated in a huge heated tent, and greeted by our host. He asked for volunteers to be the chief for the evening, to represent us at the concert, and guess who was selected?? ERIC!!!
Chief Eric was the leader of our Tribe of 16 nations (16 countries represented by the participants),
Devil's Bath
Crazy colour!! and after seeing the hangi pit and learning how to hongi (Maori greeting by pressing noses twice), we walked through the bush to a lighted river where we saw 4 Maori warriors arrive by canoe. We then entered a covered amphitheatre, designed to resemble a Maori village, and were seated as the Maori warriors entered. One challenged Chief Eric with a peace offering of a leaf, and Eric accepted before making a speech!
We were then treated to an hour of song, dance, and displays of skill and traditional games. It was pretty amazing! Back through the bush to the dining hall we feasted on potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken, lamb, mint sauce, stuffing and desert. I was so full!
We then had a quick bush walk and saw glow worms before boarding the bus back to Kiwi Paka hostel.
An amazingly full and exciting day!!!!
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