Day 9a-Tauranga and Rotorua

My body clock is so messed up with the chnages in time zones, but I also wanted to get some photos of the islands and headlands as we were sailing in. So I was up early for photos coming into Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. Got a close up photo too of the Statue of Tangaroa on the rock as we sailed passed and into Salisbury Warf.
We met for our shore tour and, once cleared to go ashore, we boarded a bus for 75 minute drive to Rotorua. It is amazing just how impatient people are on cruises to the point or completely disregarding the staff on the cruise and attempting to push their way in. When the staff say "1 row at a time" and it takes a guest to pull up people for not listening and trying to barge their way through, there really is a problem with human nature.
At Rotorua we were scheduled to visit the Whakarewarewa village for the Living Maori Village tour. When we arrived we were given lunch cooked in the hot rocks and steam from the natural geothermal heat generated in the area.
After lunch we were escorted by a young man who said he was the Chief of his Maori Tribe, which is one of the 48 tribes that live in the region around Whakarewarewa village. He gave an interesting account of the area, how battles were fought to retain posession of the region by the owners of the lands and a demonstration of the warcries used to intimidate and frighten off enemies. It is a fairly convincing tactic and understandable why the Haka is so effective a war "dance"; make yourself ad ugly and possible to keep invading armies away. He also explained the design of the house like the human body, why Maori design look the way they do and they treat the house, like another lifeform and entity, so it is treated with respect and reviered.
He also explained that with some of the Geysers in the area, the water exceeds boiling point, with the water being a fairly consitent 200°C in some pools. The minerals disolved in these pools are very good for the skin too.
We were also able to observe from a distance Pohutu Geyser; a leaping geyser of boiling hot water, again generated by heat from geothermal sources
After the tour, we experienced a demonstration of the story of the area, performance of their dances including the story behind the origins of the song Pokarekare ana.
It was about 2 lovers who were kept separate from each other by her father who was a chief on the banks of Lake Rotorua. The male lover lived on Mokoia Island (the main cone of the Rotorua vulcano) and would play his flute to let his lover know he was thinking of her, but she could not get to him. In the end she swam across to the island using gourds as floats and was united with her lover.
After th tour we barded the bus for the return journey to Tauranga.Læs mere