Day #6 New Zealand Travel Adventure (Exploring Rotorua and Visit to Maori Village)

Today started with a hearty breakfast included in the price of staying at the Ibis Hotel in Rotorua. Earline and I then set off on foot to find Kuirau Park, a free public geothermal park located a few blocks from our hotel.

The park has many hot springs and boiling mud pots but no geysers. It takes about an hour to cover the park in a leisurely manner. It is not recommended to go to this park in the evening as it has some criminal elements as well as being a hook up point for homosexuals. We encountered no unsavory types on our walk in the mid-morning hours.

Lake Rotorua and Kuirau Geothermal Park   (Click the link)

After we finished walking the park, we took our map and explored a number of the city streets to get a feel for the downtown area. It is a clean city and it feels quite safe. As we headed back to our hotel down "Eat Streat"(not a typo), we found another microbrewery called CBK and tried their dark stout beer.

It was of interest to me that when I stopped into a music store to compare prices of instruments with those in the USA, and the prices were comparative, I found no brass instruments. When I spoke with the store owner about this he told me that they tried to sell a silver flute once, but because of the amount of sulphur in the air from the geothermal vents, it turned black within two weeks. He said after that, they no longer sell brass or silver plated instruments.

We then returned to the hotel for a rest and for me to work on my blog until it was time to be picked up for our cultural experience to the Tamaki Maori Village. It starts at 5 pm with a welcoming ceremony to allow entry into their village. One of our bus members was chosen chief to represent us, his tribe. Once admitted, we experienced a variety of typical Maori activities that I will eventually post as a youtube video link.

Video of Maori Village Visit

Dinner was cooked in the typical manner in a hot pit covered with burlap and dirt. After cooking for 3 to 4 hours, the meal is brought out for consumption. This is similar the the pachemanca cooking in the Peruvian mountains. The meal consisted of potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, Green Lipped Mussels, salad, lamb, chicken, white fish, and desert. The choices from the bar are not included. The food was average but as much as you wanted to consume.

Before dinner, there was a pre-dinner singing and dancing experience and a small performance after dinner.

The cost was $115 NZD per person but we were glad that we went.

Tomorrow we move onward to Hawke's Bay area via the Tongarira National Park..