Rolling Thru Rotorua
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2008
1
19
22
Trip End
Aug 10, 2008
Rotorua,
North Island,
New Zealand
Friday, August 8, 2008
Me upside down in the zorb
Anyway, back to Rotorua. I love Rotorua. Except for the smell of sulfur in the air. Mostly you don't notice it, but when you do, you think geez! How can people live with the smell? Then I remember that I grew up in Hammond, Indiana, which reeks of something foul and horrible. Whenever I visit Hammond I wonder how I never noticed the awful smell growing up. Of course, at least the sulfur smell in Rotorua is caused by natural causes, and not a myriad of factories and refineries like Hammond.
We spent our first day in Rotorua exploring Maori culture. First up, we headed to the Maori cultural center known as Te Puia, where we learned about Maori culture, observed Maori carving and weaving techniques, and saw a performance of Maori traditional songs and dances. Our guide was great too, and explained the Maori understanding of how the earth and life came to be ("the scientists have their explanation, and we have ours. Ours has been around longer.") and even made a joke about Bill Clinton's infidelity that everyone laughed at and understood (sometimes it's really embarrassing to be an American). All-in-all, it was a fascinating experience, although part of me feels like performing in front of tourists (not all of whom are very respectful) somehow cheapens the culture. But, on the other hand, it's a way of preserving and sharing their culture, which is a positive thing. Because I was a bit conflicted, I did not take many photos, but take my word that you should definitely check it out if you are ever in the area. That evening (after we met up with Connie and Jeremy briefly), Paul and I headed off for a hangi at a local Maori village.
A hangi is a Maori dinner party of sorts. Apparently, it's like a luau in many ways, because they cook the food in the earth. The hangi was hosted by a Maori family known as the Mitai. We learned a bit about the family, which had lived in Rotorua for thousands of years, were shown more Maori dances and songs, ate a fabulous meal, and went on a bush walk. Our honorary chief for the evening was a kid from South Carolina, who actually did a great job, although I was a bit concerned he would embarrass me as an American.
Me and Connie in the Zorb
He was respectful and handled the responsibility with grace and dignity; indeed, the only thing I can hold against him is that when asked what South Carolina was known for, he said golf instead of Stephen Colbert. It was another great experience. However, the best part of our trip was still to come.I won't lie. One of the main reasons I wanted to come to New Zealand was to go zorbing. Zorbing, you ask? What the heck is that? A zorb (noun) is a giant plastic ball. To zorb (verb), you climb into the giant plastic ball and then roll down a hill. Now, you may ask yourself, why on earth would anyone want to do this? As the 17 year-old son from the British family we met while in the Daintree rain forest put it: "Why not?" I had read about it years ago and always wanted to try it. So had Connie, which is one of the reasons we had planned on meeting up in Rotorua. Neither Paul nor Jeremy had even the slightest desire to do it, so we wanted to be able to go together.
Bright and early Thursday morning, we headed out to the zorbing site. Determined not to waste the experience, Connie and I each signed up for three zorb rides. For the first one, we were strapped in and rolled, ass-over-teakettle (pardon my bad language) straight down the hill. The second time, we were not strapped in, but they filled the ball partially with water and then rolled us down a course that zig-zagged. Finally, both Connie and I climbed into the same ball that was partially filled with water and were rolled straight down a hill. It was, in a word, hilarious. It actually wasn't scary at all--it was pretty ridiculous. Surprisingly, the scariest ride down was the one when you were strapped in, because then you really did flip over; in the wet rides, you just kept sliding to the bottom of the ball and never flipped over. The only bad part was that we had not brought an extra set of clothing and immediately froze after they dumped us unceremoniously out of the ball. That, and the fact that I fell down while they were taking pictures. After you climb out of the ball, the photographer tells you to do a crazy jump which I did, but I ended up on the ground afterward. I blamed my toes, which were so cold that I couldn't feel them. It was one of the funnest things I have ever done and highly recommend it to everyone. Although you really have to wonder who on earth comes up with such things.
After drying off and having some lunch, we went off for the next activity of the day: the luge. Paul wanted to do this, and the rest of us were thinking it looked lame, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. First, we rode a gondola up a hill. Then, you put on helmets and climb on these sled-like things with handlebars. Finally, you go tearing down a 2 kilometer course that winds itself around a mountain. It was awesome. We did it about 3 times, with Paul and Connie developing a highly competitive rivalry as the two best drivers. You actually get going pretty fast and, but for dodging the slow teen-age girls and the parents with small children, it probably would have been even more fun.
Rotorua has been a great stop on our trip (other than an incident involving me singing the back of my ponytail on a candle). From Rotorua, we begin our trek back towards Auckland so that we can fly back on Sunday. To our great relief, we were able to ditch our car and are now traveling with Connie and Jeremy. Incidentally, apparently they are having lots of fights involving driving on the left, so it appears to be a common problem..
Rolling down the hill
Comments
This looks like a fun place
Now you're having fun. The big ball thing looks awesome! I don't know about the filling it with water thing? My big fear is drowning. I guess Paul is only 'cool' enough to do SPORT related activities although the luge looked cool. Looks like you guys had a blast.