Rotoroa and back to Whangarei
Dawnbreaker
Lars Alfredson
Sat 31 May 2014 08:49
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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 |