Rotorua

Day 5: Hot Springs, SkyPark, Maori Village Experience

The final day at Rotorua was a rather unexpected gift of free time. I myself was hoping for an attempt to go White Water Rafting on what is regarded as one of the greatest rivers in the world: The Kaituna River. Unfortunately, a week before our arrival, a cyclone brought heavy rains that flooded the river, making it unsafe for rafting.

To fill my desire for adventure and adrenaline, a small group of Amy, Ethan, Paige, Sophie, Max, Charlotte, and myself went to the local skypark which had a skyswing, ziplines and luge runs for us to fill our desire for speed, drops, and general fun. While Amy was putting up a good show on her way up the gondola, she immediately was screaming for mercy during our slow climb up to the top of the swing where I had a devilish pleasure of releasing us whenever I desired. I played the part almost too well in my rather loose attempts to pull the cord. The exclamation of error in the machine only caused Amy’s scream to be louder a few seconds later as she was forced to open her eyes to look, in horror, at the smile on my face as I pulled the cord sending the cage into an immediate freefall. A mixture of bodies, metal, laughs and strong curses were sent hurtling through the air as we swung over the treetops of Rotorua.

The rest of the day's adventures were speeding down luge tracks racing and trying, rather unsuccessfully, not crash into the walls of the track.

After a quick shower, the entire group met up for a Maori village cultural experience and dinner put on by a local tribe. The best explanation of the experience is everything I wish a Hawaiian Luau was. We had traditional Maori food prepared by digging a hole in the group, covering the food with layers of leaves, and spreading hot coals and embers across the top to cook both sides. The Maori people are one with nature and believe that as everything comes from nature, that is the proper way to prepare food. The dinner, which strangely resembled an American Thanksgiving, was delicious and involved stories of Maori folklore, history, and even a Q&A session on anything the group wanted to learn about the culture. After dinner, the group was led to a natural spring fed river where the tribe's warriors showcased their handmade canoe and warrior chats (not the haka). Fun fact, the water we drank at dinner was pulled from the river as it is the only available water source in the village.

Following the river demonstration was the introduction of our group to the village leaders, where our tour's “chief Dean from Essex” presented a peace offering of a leaf and song to the tribe to show our desire for friendship. Upon acceptance, we were invited to stay for a show of the tribe's many cultural dances, instruments, weapons, fighting styles, historical stories, and, of course, a haka. Following the performance, we were invited back to their life size village for a night walk back to the river to see the glow worms lining the river.Okumaya devam et