Kiwi Exp. - Waitomo to Rotorua

We began the day by taking a short hike through the nearby Ruakuri Reserve. This would not have been particularly noteworthy had Alex not smacked his head on the hanging rock face of a cave ceiling. Swearing and bleeding but still walking, Alex will now be more attentive and move out of the way of large rocks.

With Alex nursing his head we travelled to the Hobbiton movie set, where Kim was in her element exploring the neat gardens and hobbit holes as seen in the films. After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the set, then made from plywood and polystyrene was taken down. However for the Hobbit films it was rebuilt as a lasting structure for people to visit after filming ended. We wandered through the scenery of the books, made famous by the films, along paths, through orchards and past colourful doorways to Bag End itself. From this vantage point you look out across Hobbiton, over its pond and Party Tree, toward the river with its working watermill and The Green Dragon Pub. At the pub we drank amber ale and ate steaming steak pie before leaving the fantasy world behind.

We rolled onward to Rotorua from where we entered the replica Pre-European Maori village, Tamaki, for our overnight Maori cultural experience. We had heard that this was highly rated and we were not disappointed. Originally created by two Maori brothers who wished to share their culture 26 years ago, it offers visitors the chance to engage in Maori culture as well as stay overnight at the village. Our accommodation was a ‘Wharemoe’, a traditional wooden carved sleeping house, albeit with the modern trappings of electricity and beds.

We were greeted by a display of the traditional Maori challenge, which was to determine whether visitors came in peace or war. The Maori warriors, adorned with their facial tattoos and brandishing their Taiaha weaponry with a roaring chorus of their challenge, made an intimidating spectacle. You can only imagine that it would have been 'brown trousers' for the British emissaries and soldiers who first engaged with the Maori tribes in the 19th century.

After this and further demonstrations of Maori culture, we were invited to eat a delicious ‘Hangi’ feast, which included meats and vegetables cooked in the ground. Alex ate his body weight in New Zealand lamb and still ate the pavlova and steam pudding for dessert before being invited by our hosts to undertake a topless Haka (ceremonial war dance) with the other males in our group. We spent the rest of the evening into the early hours of the morning drinking beer by the fire and in outdoor hot tubs under the trees and stars above.En savoir plus