We left Andrea's family with Aunty Shirley - we didn't kidnap her, we gave her a lift home to Auckland. That night we stayed in Hamilton, I don't have much to say about it really we just needed a place to stay and it was convenient for the Waitomo caves.
I wish I could show you what we saw (glow worms in dark caves underground) but cameras were not allowed - so here's a photo of the exit!
The same day we moved on to Rotorua (or rottingrua as some call it due to the smell of sulphur). Our first trip was in a 'gondola' up Mount Ngongotaha for a panoramic view of the town - I was a bit nervous as it gave me vertigo!
The next day we went to Whakarewarewa which is a Maori village - where they still live - in an area of thermal pools. It was fascinating to find out that they used the hot waters for cooking, bathing and preparing flax. The village has 2 churches one Catholic and one Anglican. When the white people left the Maori cheif decided that those who lived at the top of the hill where the catholic church was were to be Catholic and those at the bottom of the hill near the Anglican church were Anglicans
 |
Entrance and war memorial to Maori who fought in
the world wars |
 |
| The Anglican church |
 |
| The High Street |
 |
| Wahiao meeting house used for ceremonial events |
 |
| The cemetry - no-one is buried for obvious reasons! |
 |
| The Catholic church |
 |
| Geysers |
The visit was concluded with a performance of singing and dancing - most enjoyable
The following day we went to Waiotapu thermal wonderland - the earth is an incredible place - we don't know the half of what's going on
 |
Starlings, swallows and mynas have nests here and
the eggs are kept warm by the steam |
No comments:
Post a Comment