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Published: January 12th 2009
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The Tamaki Maori Experience was the event, just outside Rotorua the venue.
We were transported by mini bus from the hostel to the village and one lad from Devon was nominated as cheif. This meant that upon our arrival to the village he would have to be the one directly in front of the Maori warriors at the initial challenge. It was up to one of the elected chiefs, there was more than just one bus, to accept the fern as the peace offering to allow us to enter the village. Our boy was the one picked and did as he was bid, allowing us to pass through the gates and into the village, where they were depicting scenes from the Maori way of life such as warrior training or the women were spinning cloth.
We entered the main hall for a small concert with traditional Maori song and dance before facing the tribes own individual haka. It must be said the men were very intimidating. After we had faced the Haka, we filed out of the hall into the feasting hall where we indulged in a traditional Hangi meal. This is a meal cooked on red hot rocks
underground, the food is covered with soaked cloth and hessian and is essentially steam roasted leaving the meat and vegetables moist and succelent.
I waded my way through three stacked plates of this meal, and had no room for pussing which was gutting because there was custard!
That night we had a few bevvies in the bar with a few of the other people on our bus, but the bloody nosie, they call music, was making conversation impossible. We hit the sack around midnight bearing in mind we had to be gone by 8.30.
At 3 am, the bloody Brazillians crashed in and destroyed the room, making more noise than a herd of elephants and effecively ensuring that yet another nights sleep was fantastically disturbed! When i got up at 7am i was adament to ensure that i slammed all the doors and flushed the toilet too many times and have a shower as loudly as possible so's not to disturb them too much...
We were aiming to be in Waitomo for lunch and only had one planned stop and that was just outside Rotorua so that some members of our group could go Zorbing, being
pushed in a rubber ball half filled with water and being pushed down a hill or zig zag track. We watched a few of our new friends going down the hill before heading across to grab some sausages cooked by our lovely driver guide Lauren. There was a massive sheep which i just had to have a picture with...
After sausages we were on the road again and next stop was Waitomo.
Waitomo are home to the famous glow worm caves and there were several choices of activity here. We went for a caving/black water rafting expereince. This was three hours, with an hour underground. We were dressed up in really sexy wet suits, given a rubber ring (our raft) and we headed down the cave. I will be honest, i have been on tougher caving expereinces, in fact, i think i haven't been on one that was so un-challenging, but this was by far the most spectacular one!
The formations were far better than any of the holes in the ground that we call caves in Blighty. We drifted through the caves on the rubber rings, in the freezing water, in pitch black with only the
glow worms to guide us. It was incredible, whole chasms illumintated by maggot shit, for that is what it is that glows. The maggots then turn into flies with no mouth or stomach, just a really high sex drive and within 48 hours they have shagged themselves to death...
We headed to our accomodation for the night. It was in the village of Waitomo and is one of the three business that still survive in the town with a population of 45...There was bugger all to do there, except chill in the bar, which we did for most of the night and play pool, eat, drink, chat, play games with our travel mates. We have managed to become part of the more mature gang, not old, but the 25 year olds. So the games as you can imagine were as dirty as 18 year olds games - mainly because it was I that suggest them. We invited them all back to our chalet, yes chalet - we paid 29 buck for a chalet with two twin rooms, lounge, ensuite and kitchen area whereas they had all paid something stupid for a twin/double inthe main building that was fairly shit
- to drink some tea. Our other chalet mates had had the same idea, but brought with them beer, we had a jolly party there for a short time before Nates and I noticed some gals walking past, so we asked if they wanted to join us. They were Aussies and we got chatting for a time, then we headed down to the bar for some drinks, then Rob and I walked them back up to the chalet where we continued to chat and talk and argue about the stupid names for clothes and insignicant sizes of beverages they have here and in Oz before they went back to their room. But we're meeting them in Taupo when they arrive....
Woke up at 8am and caught up with my journal that i had let fall behind slightly. At 9am we left the small hamlet of Waitomo, grabbed some brekkie at the caving centre and then went for a bush walk around the caves area. There were some immpressive waterfalls and crags. The next amusing thing for us was the bunny shearing. There is a particular breed of rabbit that grows like a kilo of "wool" every year. If they
aren't sheared they risk over heating and dying of a heart attack. The wool is then spun and sold or knitted. Everyone is happy.
The air con on the bus broke down half way to Taupo, so while the others got ice cream, Eddie, Jules, Seb and myself set about looking at the various aircon fuses before Eddie, the msot knowledgeable, declared it as buggered. The big green bus is going in to the doctors tomorrow!
We stopped just out of Taupo to look at the Huka falls which are quite something, They have 100,000 litres of water pass through it every second. It is a stretch of maybe 100 metres of frothy and crushing water. Only one person has succedded in kayaking the strip, the others suffered the fate of death...
On arrival in Taupo, seriously clammy from the bus ride we decided that a dip in the crystal clear and cool waters of Lake Taupo were in call for!
Peace Out
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Dave
non-member comment
To AJ
I just hope my trip to NZ is not as knackering as yours seems to be turning out. Sounds as if yr having the time of your life. Make the most of it, it'll all be over before you can spit and you'll be back for the next Gang Show!! Ride the crest of the wave!! Dave