Rotoroa and back to Whangarei

Dawnbreaker
Lars Alfredson
Sat 31 May 2014 08:49
Pos 38:08. 176:14.37E
Rotorua


Well HELLO again.  I took a little break from the Blog for a while but I'm back
again ready to finish our trip around Coramandel Peninsula.
Lars went for his usual walk after arrival in Rotoroa, a lovely Maori town where
most of the population of the town are Maori.  All around the town are Hot
Springs and in one part of the town the people actually live with the hot springs
all around them.  They breath in the fumes from the sulfur, cook by pits
throughout the little village and bathe in the baths that are fed from the hot
springs.  It seems to agree with everyone living there, even the children.
In the Camp grounds there were two Hot Spring pools,one was 37C and the
other 40C.  I enjoyed the first one which was 37C but when I got into the
40C I felt quite queezy so I got out very fast.  After being in the pool you still
have to shower to get the eggy smell off you and as we were going out that
evening we didn't want to smell like smelly old eggs that had gone off.

    
     Lars walk around the town and a great picture of the Hot springs                                                     Both of us in the 37C pool, marvelous.


For my birthday I had asked Lars if we could book an evening with the
Maori's singing and dancing.  There were a couple of tours that we could
pick so it was one that night and we would see the other in the morning.
The one in the evening was at Tamaki Maori Village.  When we arrived
there was a ceremony with what we called our Chief's from the three
buses and the Chief from Tamaki Village.  After we were all allowed
into the village and we spilt in to group where each group watched how
the Maori's used their weapons and the women made things out of
different plants that were around.  The traditions are being passed on
to their children including their language.


     
                           The entrance to Tamaki Village                                                                                 Traditional weapons and clothing


    
         "Hangi" traditional way of cooking dinner, in a pit.                                                           Vegetables above the meat of chicken and lamb


     
                            Traditional dancing and songs                                                                            End of the night, warm fires to keep us warm.



The next day we visited the other village where the people live among
the Hot Springs. The shorterned name is Whakarewarewa.  The Maoir's
only have 14 letters plus the vowles which are every important in their
alphebet.  Our Guide had a very long name and he was very good at explaining
how his people lived many years ago.
They cooked their meals by the Hot Water Springs.  Boiled eggs took 1 minute
to cook a really nice soft egg.



      
               Our Guide showing us how they cook even today                                                    One of the pools where Hot water bubbles all the time



    
                   The "Grumbling Old Man" Hot Spring                                                                      Whakarewarewa Village traditional dance


    
                            Green and Black lakes around their village                                                Two geysers named after the British Royal Family




We left Rotoroa and tried to find a quiet Camping Ground.  The one we found
had bushes like my Mum has outside her kitchen but these bushes where
huge and the flowers where huge as well.

    
                      What do you think about this huge bush Mum.                                                             The flowers are exactly like yours.


     
                         The bushes grew around these lovely trees                                                                    It's getting colder as the web shows.


That's it for the moment.  Lars will tell you all about our visit to the Yard again.


Love to everyone. Hope you all enjoy the blog.
Caroline and Lars. xxx