Rotorua, NZ

Wow, Rotorua, which is about an hour and a half Southeast of Raglan, is an awesome place. They have bungie jumping, zorbing (where you get in a big plastic ball and roll down a hill), dirt biking, a big swing, fishing, a gondola ride, Maori cultural shows and food, and luging.

Yesterday, Cardiff and I narrowed that list down to the Maori show, the gondola ride, and luging. We had heard from a couple people that the luging was a must-do activity in Rotorua so we gave it a shot. After the gondola ride up to the luging area, we strapped on our helmets and rode those little carts for about two hours. To get a picture of what we were doing, it was like taking a mini bobsled with no side walls down a 1 kilometer cement track down the side of a mountain--a track that didn't exactly have any side rails. We started off on the intermediate track to get a handle on it and then spend the rest of the day on the advanced run, which had not one, but TWO jumps in it. Cardiff and I raced down every time, and I must admit, I think he won all but one of them. Still, it was awesome. And lucky for us, two people gave us their tickets for three more rides down when we got there, because they were too cold. Works for me.

After that adrenaline rush, we headed to the Maori cultural show and dinner. It started at about 6:30 at night and lasted until about 10:30. We stared off by sitting down and shouting out which countries we were from before the speaker asked if one of us wanted to act as our group's "chief." I think my hand was up before he finished the question, so I was chosen. It was pretty cool. They had me act like I was a visiting chief who accepted the host tribe's peace token and gave a little speech of thanks for their welcoming us. (This was all very carefully rehearsed beforehand). As a part of the show, we saw a Maori canoe go upstream, watched some traditional dances, and at night, see some glowworms and their sacred spring. It was all pretty interesting. They also showed us a fern whose leaves were silver on the underside, which is the country's symbol. If you've seen an All-Blacks jersey, you know what I'm talking about.

The dinner they provided was tasty too. It was all cooked in a hangi, which is an underground hot-stone oven and takes 5 hours to cook. We had chicken, lamb, and a bunch of side dishes. They definitely gave us enough good food because when the dinner was over, Cardiff and I were pretty stuffed and tired.

Today, we are headed to Taupo, which is another outdoorsy place, and we hope to get in some climbing in the next two days. I'm hoping to do some fishing, too, because at the Auckland hostel, one of the people staying there gave me a fishing pole, complete with bait and tackle, because he was leaving the country. We'll see if any trout decide to take a nibble.

I'll try to add some pictures soon. Talk to you later.

Andy