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Published: August 2nd 2012
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You know you're in Rotoru because the smell of rotten eggs hits you like a brick wall. It's such a bad smell it makes your stomach sick. The smell is from the sulphur- Rotorua is on a Caldera- a super-volcano. But you put up with the smell because with a caldera comes great and amazing things to see- such as geysers, mud pools and hot springs. We parked Red Dwarf in a holiday park near the main town and got some dinner. We were pretty tired after our busy day, so we headed to bed early enough. The next day, the weather was still miserable- so we just walked around Lake Rotorua and walked into the town and had coffee. It was a nice relaxing day. When we got back to the holiday park, we booked a trip to Te Puiu for the following day. Te Puiu is a Maori experience centre, where you can learn all about the culture. There's also lots of volcanic features to see there. That night, we had a dip in the hot pools at the holiday park. The water in these pools is heated by the volcano, pumped into a tank where it cools to
about 35 degrees, and then is pumped into the pools. It was nice and toasty!
The next day we set off to Te Puiu, and we arrived just in time for a cultural performance which was starting outside the meeting house. The lady at the holiday park had warned us that the welcoming ceremony is something the Maori take very seriously. We waited outside the meeting house anxiously, when a lady in the tribal dress came out to give us instructions on what to do. She spotted Dave, and made him Chief of our tribe. Dave had to look the Maori chief in the eye as he picked up the peace leaf laid down by the Maori chief. Once we were welcomed into the meeting house, we all had to sit down while Dave had to officially close the ceremony by touching each male member of the tribe with his nose on their nose twice. This is called a hungi (not sure how you spell it!). After that, we sat back and enjoyed the traditional Maori songs sung and played by a group in the traditional dress. They showed us the weapons and how they were used. Afterwards we
got some pictures with the group. The Maori are a warrior race, so they used to pull scary faces to frighten their enemies, hence the mad-eyes-tongue-out face!
After that, we were just in time for the next guided tour, which lasted for about an hour and a half. Our tour guide was from the local Maori village, and his family ran the park. He showed us the Pohutu geyser which was starting to go off just as we started the tour. The heat from the underground volcano heats the ground water, and when the pressure builds up, the water shoots out of a vent. It was a spectacular sight. We saw the mud pools, where the mud is so hot it bubbles. We then stopped off at the Kiwi house, where they kept two Kiwi birds, one male and one female. Although they are not a breeding pair. Because the Kiwis are nocturnal, the house was in darkness with just a few dim lights. We weren't allowed take any photos as the flashes would startle the birds. They are the strangest looking birds- with thin, stubby feathers. They run around like rodents and are much bigger than we expected.
It was a privilege to see them as they are extremely endangered due to introduced species like cats and dogs, stoats and ferrets. Our guide then showed us to the Te Puiu school where they taught young Maoris traditional crafts such as carving and weaving. We watched the carvers and weavers at work. The carvings are so detailed it takes a carver a long time to complete a work.
After the tour, we were free to walk around the park ourselves. We wandered into a Maori village with traditional buildings. It was a long day and we had to drive to Ohakune so we left about 4:30. We really enjoyed Rotorua- apart from the smell!
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