Viva la Rotorua!

Days 4 + 5

The past couple of days were spent in Rotorua. After departing Mercury Bay, we made a pit stop at Karangahake Scenic Reserve to stretch out legs and rejuvenate. We had a few choices for little walks and as the bus driver explained our options some of got confused but definitely heard him mention something about “go that way and you’ll be walking for four days at least.” Damn – wish I would have listened better. Luckily I was not the only one who tried to listen but then got confused. I ended up joining hiking forces with a girl from Ireland and two guys, one from Poland and other from Denmark. We figured we could find our way through this area. It was a nice little walk. That area in particular used to be the place to go for gold mining so we walked through a bunch of old mining shafts, some which were pitch black and couldn’t see a hand in front of our face! The Irish girl figured that taking a bunch of flash pictures would help lead us to our destination. And indeed it did – I only tripped like, twice. Never fell but I did trip and chip the nail polish on my toes (Yeah – flip flops weren’t the best footwear for trekking through a completely dark, old mining shaft). But it was really nice and got to meet a few people which is always the lovely thing about traveling.

After that break we traveled a bit more to a town called Matamata. Lord of the Rings (or general film fans) can appreciate that this is also the sight of Hobbiton, the movie set for the LOTR movies. We made a quick stop for lunch and to grab some photos of the sign, which according to the driver is quite possibly the most photographed thing in all of New Zealand. I’m sure it is photographed a lot but I would have to venture a guess and say that Milford Sound down at the very bottom of New Zealand is a bit more visited but what do I know! It’s only listed as one of the places you must see before you die (And unfortunately, I will not be seeing it – my trip is limited to the North Island).

When we arrived in Rotorua – or Vegas as the Kiwis call it – our driver educated us about how this town is known for its Maori culture and geothermal activity. The town itself also has a very peculiar smell to it because there are high levels of sulphur in the ground, which is also why you could spot steam coming out of the ground from behind a house. There are quite a few boiling mud pits in the region as well but it is considered quite therapeutic so it’s manufactured as soap and other skin products (Mud bath anyone?) Aside from the steam, strange coloured lake and rotten egg smell, Rotorua has a lot of cultural activity. Kiwis are quite proud of their heritage and ancestors, the Maori. They ruled the land before the English colonized it. Maori people have a rich history and descendants are quite proud of this. Maori is actually an official language of New Zealand, along with English of course. You are guaranteed to be greeted by “Kia Ora” which is equivalent to Americans saying “How ya doin? Hello! Hey! Wasssssup?!?!” or Australians saying “G’day, mate! No Worries!” or Mexicans saying “Hola! Como Estas? Buenos Tardes! Buenos Noches! Gracias!” or English saying “Cherio! Cheers! Tah!” or Hawaiians saying “Aloha!”…. and well, you get my point. It is custom to just say Kia Ora back to the person who says it to you. The literal translation for Kia Ora (which is pronounced more like Key-ora) means “I am full of life!” But it has become a saying for virtually anything from ‘Hello to Goodbye to Thanks to I understand to No Worries.’

Later in the evening a bunch of headed to a Maori cultural performance to gain a bit more insight in the culture and where they come from. We arrived at the “village” but before we could enter the Maori performers a welcome ceremony, a re-enactment of what they did when outsiders tried to enter their village (outsiders obviously being us tourists). Pre-delegated chiefs represented the outsiders while Maori men performed the welcome ceremony. Then they laid down a peace offering which one of the chiefs picked up and this basically shows a sign of respect. After the peace offering had been picked up a lady came out and sang a song that gave authority for the outsiders to enter the village. Inside the village were recreated versions of Maori houses and demonstrations of some of the tools that were used by the people long ago. After this brief session we were led to the meeting house for a performance. First, the men and women performed what was a traditional dance that was supposed to intimidate the enemies before a battle. It didn’t seem too bad but that’s because only about 10-12 people were performing as opposed to the 700-800 Maori people that would do this dance on the battle field. To balance out the cultural performance then they performed a love song based on an old Maori tale. It was sung in Maori of course but it was still quite lovely. After the performance we got to head to the feeding house – which I was looking forward to all night. The meal was a Hangi traditional meal. Hangi is a method of cooking a meal. Basically it is food cooked on hot rocks under the ground. There’s a hole in which the food goes into and is covered. We reckon that they really just cooked our meal in kitchen, keeping it warm in crock pots. But it is more fun to think that they really did prepare it the traditional Maori way. It was delightful though – a feast of lamb, chicken, fish, pasta, cole slaw, breads, carrots, sweet potatoes and for dessert we had pavlova, which is a popular treat down in Australia and New Zealand. It’s a meringue pie topped with fruits and it’s really light and lovely.

Once we had our fill we were driven back to our own village, the hostel situated no more than 2 yards away from a rowdy bar. Yeah – super easy going to sleep with a bunch of backpackers screaming and the bad dance music thumping all night. Welcome to life in a hostel and backpacking.

The next day…..

I finally had fallen asleep the sweet sounds of my own music and drowned out the early 90s pop music blaring from the bar next door. The next day was a free day in Rotorua. It seemed to be a grand day for walking so that’s what I did. I started off by just walking through the town centre and tried to figure out why New Zealanders call it Vegas. I have never been to the real Las Vegas but judging from movies (because you know, the movies are always true and spot on) and what people have told me, Rotorua cannot even compare. I think they refer to it as Vegas because of how many tourists come through and also, the one strip of motels they have. I guess each country has to have its own Vegas. After catching a feed at a café, I headed for a nice walk around Lake Rotorua. Now, this lake isn’t a typical lake that people go fishing at or take their boats on. Honestly, it is kind of unattractive. It has a milky colour to it and that again has to do with the sulphur. I concentrated more on the background, hills and the horizon. It all contributes to the vast diversity of New Zealand’s landscape. After my long walk I relaxed in the Government Gardens a bit and caught my breath. I sat in the rose garden and thought about how my mom would really enjoy the scenery. Lots of really pretty roses and different colours as well. I walked in front of the Rotorua Museum and decided against paying the admission and settled on taking a picture of the building instead. It’s a pretty neat looking structure. Out in front of the museum there are several grounds for croquet or cricket. Today there were a few groups playing croquet. Admittedly, I was jealous and wanted to join in. And again, I settled on taking a picture so people would know that other countries do actually take croquet serious. I also wondered how they would do in the Croquet Farm Challenge that some of my friends and family like to partake in down at the ol’ Kohlbeck ranch, ha ha! Overall, not a thrill-a-minute kind of day but I was fine with this. I had a nice, tiring day of pounding the pavement all day. I also realized that the rotten egg smell of the town was not for me and was ready to move on the next day to Waitomo.