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| Say that ten times fast |
Rotorua is one of New Zealand's biggest tourist attractions because it is a city that sits directly on a thermal hotspot. The whole area reminded me a lot of walking around the hot pools at Yellowstone National Park but this city had a completely new twist - Maori culture. This city had gyesers, hot springs and mud baths and was filled with air that smelled like sulphur but it also had a population which was 35% Maori and villages which gave regular cultural performances and traditional feasts.
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| The meeting house |
There are so many Maori in Rotorua because it has always been a sacred place to them as the geothermal activity was so special. One of the most popular ways to visit the city and experience the natural sights along with the traditional culture is to tour one of the villages. Sean and I chose to tour Whakawerawera living thermal village which is the only Maori village which still actually lives on and uses the thermal activity.
The tour was given by a guide that actually lives in the village and had descended from one of the early Maori settlers there. She took us through her little town and pointed out some of the important landmarks along the way such as the meeting house, cemetery, communal baths and communal cooking areas.
Maoris traditionally cook food in a method called a Hangi in which they use fire and hot stones to cook food buried underground. In this village, the Maori simply use the hot water of the pools. They either use the steam and heat from the underground vents to cook meat and vegetables or they simply dip things that need to be cooked directly into the hot pools for a couple of minutes. She demonstrated this for us and we even got to try some of the corn and hangi pies at the end of the tour.
The whole tour was very touristy but enjoyable just the same; the finale was the big song and dance show at the end which included a traditional Maori Haka or war dance - something that some New Zealand sports teams still do before each match. We ended the day with a visit to the Rotorua museum which was originally built as a thermal bath house.
After absorbing so much of Maori culture, we needed some of our own and chose $5 Dominoes' pizzas for dinner - always a fantastic idea.
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