Chief and Mrs Chief
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2006
1
77
135
Trip End
Dec 2007
Rotorua,
New Zealand
Friday, May 25, 2007
That night we were picked up for our Maori experience. It was a bit touristy but really really good. We started off in a big room where a friendly and funny guide welcomed us all and explained how the night would go
01 - A leisurely ride in the gondola
. He asked for a volunteer to be the chief of our visiting tribe (dubbed the Tribe of 12 Nations) and after being nominated by a couple of people and encouraged by Sara, T put up his hand. We had our chief. As we all know T likes to be the centre of attention so he wasn't too worried when our guide told him he had to face down a warrior offering a peace gift, do a speech and touch noses with the Mitai Chief when, or if, our tribe was accepted. No pressure T. Our tour began as we were taken to their sacred stream (fed by a natural spring) to watch their warriors arrive by war canoe. All the while T was being tutored for his role by our guide. He secretly liked being called chief all the time! haha We then walked to their village where, on behalf of our tribe, T faced a ferocious warrior who showed us, in no uncertain terms, what would happen if anyone messed with him. He then offered T a peace offering which T took and we all listened to a welcome speech from the local chief. After this, T gave his speech of thanks and as it was accepted we two chiefs touched noses as is the custom. T's duties over we were all treated to an hour of song, dance, martial displays and explanations of the Maori culture and customs. It was a fantastic show and we even got to participate in a haka before being shown how it's really done. Hungry, we returned to the banqueting room where we enjoyed the food from the hangi, all the while encouraged to eat more. The chief was impressed by T's speech so they made a gift of two bone and paua shell necklaces to chief T and Mrs Chief
02 - An adrenaline rushing ride down!!!!!!
. The night was ended with a tour of the Rainbow Springs nature reserve where we were lucky enough to spot some kiwi. Altogether a wonderful night.Spent the next morning at Hells Gate, a geothermal reserve just outside Rotorua. A pathway led us round past bubbling mud pools, sulphur lakes, fumaroles, the largest hot waterfall in the southern hemisphere and, the highlight - a mud volcano. 'Twasn't as impressive as the promotional material lied .. we mean implied but interesting to see all the same.
After an enjoyable enough time there we set off for our next stop, Taupo.
Comments
Muddy hell!
You guys look like you're having some pretty dangerous fun there - staring down tribesmen, going to active volcanoes and doing speedy luge rides! Keep it up :D
Tony, remember when you were giving your speech at the wedding and you called me a bridesmaid (well, the 3 of us)? Did you happen to refer to the tribesman during your welcome speech as a tribeswoman? If so, just stick to the wedding plan: give him as much alcohol as he can drink and everything will turn out well!
I hope we get the chance to talk to you both before we emigrate to NZ. It looks like you know more about the country than we do atm!