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March 29, 2006
Rotorua
The trip to the north of the island finally gave me enough momentum to get the hell out of Auckland. Great city but it's like all big tourist cities, a party all of the time and a huge drain on the bank account. I hopped a bus to Rotorua and arrived near midnight and in pouring rain. I prepared my pack (it's conveniently got a rain cover) for the 3 block walk in the rain to my hostel which I'd seen on the way in. The bus driver at this point asks where I'm staying, I respond 'the Hot Rock'. 'Oh, I could have dropped you off there when we came into town', thanks for the info....might have been useful about 20 minutes ago...
So I checked in with the bar, reception being closed. From what I saw, it was a busy place...always my downfall. Can't refuse a nice pint in a nice atmosphere. Ended up talking to some to some Pom who was drunk and kept rambling on about how to never trust a man who eats more fish than a bear, or fishes more than a bear...unless he's working on a boat in Alaska...a surreal conversation that was too much after a 4h busride.
The next day I wandered around town catching up on some internet and enjoying a great meal at an irish pub. $10 got you a pint and a shepherd's pie that was incredibly filling. Best meal deal I've had yet!
That afternoon, I headed to Te Pui, a Maori cultural experience that started with a tour of the geothermal area on their land. It was pretty cool to see the geysers shooting out of the ground and pools of mud bubbling up like miniature volcanoes.
The night concluded with a ritual Maori concert. We were greated into the Pa (a fortified village) by a Maori warrior who greated our group in the traditional way - a show of strength intended to assess the size of our group and establish our intentions as peaceful or aggressive. Taking the boring route, we arrived peacefully....come on, how funny would it be to show up for a tour and dinner and instead plot a mock attack! Ok, so not really feasible...but hilarious none the less. We entered the hall and were treated to a spectacular show detailing many aspects of Maori culture. The performers were good in every detail except that they weren't terribly intimidating in their haka; they were more my size then the ginormous proportions of the Maori's who play rugby or work as bouncers throughout NZ and OZ. Those guys are intimidating! The night wrapped up with a hangi...a dinner cooked underground on stones heated by a fire. 
As they run several tours a day, they're cooking facility is modernized (not quite the traditional hangi as seen in my pics) but the results were incredible. The dinner was easily worth half the price of admission. It was buffet style with a seafood salad bar (I enjoyed the chowder), as well as a long table of veggies (the kumara was delicious, a sweet potato like tuber) and corned beef, chicken, pork, all cooked in the modern hangi. Finish it off with a desert table with fresh fruit, chocolate mousse and cake with custard....I piled my plate to the top and paced myself well. I couldn't move for at least 10 minutes afterwards.
While waiting for dinner I ran into another Canadian, Leah, a nurse from Calgary who's been working in Sydney. We chatted over dinner and found out that we were headed in the same direction so you can guess that she may turn up later in a post...well, you're right. But that's in Taupo and another story.
Posted by Dr.Unk at March 29, 2006 5:37 PM
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