Emerald Spa Resort Rotorua

Hey all, this is Jenna updating the blog,

Since the last time we have several kilometers under our belt and have mastered the art of driving on the left hand side of the road. We left Auckland on December 1st and headed up to Goat Island Marine Reserve (aka the Great Barrier Reef of NZ, haha). It was nice, except when it was raining. We did a little snorkeling and walking around the beach area. We were only there for a few hours and then decided to ...

... and also performing the Haka. Followed
by a banquit fit for a king with mussles, chicken, fish, beef and all the trimming...
one thing is for sure i haven't gone hungry so far on this trip!
I could have gone zorbing or luging again but thought for the sake of my finds it would
be wise not to especially with what i knew was coming up! :-)
speak soon!!
xx

Well we arrived in Rotorua and got to experience a Mauri culture festival. The night contained dancing, games and a huge feast to top it off. The food was cooked the traditional Mauri way which means it was buried underground along with scalding hot rocks to give the food a smoked taste.

Th e following day we arrived in Waitomo. Waitomo has a population of only 42 people but attracts many tourists do to some of the best underground caving ...

Went on the bus to Mercury bay via Cathedral Cove which was beautiful, the next day we went to Rotarua where we went to see the geezers, hot pool etc, then we went to Waitaimo where we did black water rafting, and went to the local fair to watch a hardcore sheep shearing competition!

... Moor song. Unfortunately, I was the only other Yorkshire-man on the bus and had to help him. Fortunately, a few other English people knew some of the words and joined in eventually. After systematically embarrassing at least one person of each nationality, the driver then broke into several songs himself. At one point he started singing "she'll be coming round the mountain" and drove round a roundabout 8 times in unison to the song. Cheesy as it was, it was pretty amusing at the time!

... on veiem algunes armes i explicacions de danses i les diferents divinitats. Els relleus gravats a la fusta són molt interessants. Les paraules maori són molt llargues, ajunten adjectius, noms articles, verbs... etc. Al sortir visitarem el museu d'art i d'història de la ciutat de Rotorua, situat a uns antics banys. Un video introductori sobre la història de la ciutat i després diferents galeries amb exposicions...

... best days of the whole trip.  A lot of what made the day great were the various super-friendly and absolutely hilarious Maori people.  Both Cousin Ben and Mark had great senses of humor, seemed to know half of everybody in town, and were extremely knowledgeable about what they do.  Maori music rocks- go buy some for yourself to see.  Everybody was so nice.  I'm ready to convert to Maori, just tell me what kind of genetic therapy I need to go through to become Maori. Tomorrow: Zorbing!!!

His name is Piri, he can have Kara's old bedroom! Picture to follow when we apply for his passport. Included is a picture of us with some of the locals. Later we went for a Maori evening. Highlight of the evening was when I perfomred the Haka, the idea of which is to scare your enemy! Wait till you see the video...

... siin pole mõtet sõn*deg* sed* kirjeld*d*, v*id v**d*t* pilte p*lj*ste t*gumikeg* m*ooridest! Enne sellest piirkonn*st l*hkumist käisime är* k* W*i-o-T*pu geotermilisel imedem**l (päriselt t*l on selline nimi!). Se*l ringi käies p*neb imest*m*, milleks loodus võimeline on j* KUIDAS?! Piltidelt v**d*tes pole võib-oll* nii müstiline, kuid koh*pe*l ikk* v**t*d erkrohelist vedelikku j* nendid, et küll keemikutel oleks siin tore ringi müt*t* :)

... wir uns erlaubt haben, waren Zorbing und Weißwasser Rafting. Beides extrem zu empfehlen.

Zorbing kann man entweder Da Vinci-artig aufgespreizt im Inneren einer Plastikkugel angekettet einen Abhang runterkullernd verbringen, oder, wie wir, zu dritt in einer Plastikkugel mit einigen Litern Wasser an Bord besagten Berg herab durcheinander purzelnd. Ein echter Einblick für diejenigen, die immer schon mal wissen wollten, wie sich die Wäsche so im Schleudergang fühlt ...