This morning we awoke to strong winds and overcast skies. Even if we'd planned today as our plan-B hiking day it wouldn't have worked out! Nevermind, there were other things to do. As we headed towards Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake, you could really see the wind effects. The water inside the old volcanic caldera was incredibly choppy and the clouds overhead were moving fast. We drove past many an intrepid cyclist on the highway around Taupo. I can't believe they had any forward momentum with the rough headwinds.
A couple of hours later we were in the outskirts of Rotorua, an area famous for its geothermal activity - which causes the town to have a distinct brimstone odor. It's a pretty touristy area, thus most of the geological features of interest are pay-access only (think Niagara falls). But we ARE tourists and we were there to do touristy stuff, starting with Te Puia, a Maori run-center that focuses on the the cultural significance of the natural wonders. The southern hemisphere's largest still-active geyser, Pohutu, was once threatened by aquifer-depleting bores but since locals campaigned to stop practices that threaten the natural geysers, Pohutu has returned to it's full glory of propelling water up to 30-meters high. There were some boiling mud pits and a few hot pools. One was used by early Maori as a giant cook pot because its water is contaminant-free. Today the pool is still used for fancy cooking demonstrations.
We also attended a Maori dance presentation, where were demonstrations of a stick game and how to properly twirl a poi, which is very similar if not exactly like an Inupiaq "yo-yo" that kids play with in Alaska. It shouldn't be surprising given the ancestral connections between most Pacific peoples.
For the finale, we had an explanation of the haka, which is world famous because New Zealand's national rugby team does it before each match. It is the Maori war dance intended to pump-up the warriors and also give them a fierce demeanor with the bulging eyes and extended tongue (supposedly to make the opposing tribe or team run away in fear). Audience participation was requested for this part. Hans very bravely got up on stage with other fellas from the meeting house where the performance was being held but those pictures will never see the light of day (unless an appropriate sum of money is offered to me).
It was time to get some lunch and head out of town. We stopped at an Argentinian tapas restaurant where we ordered way too much food by accident. I thought the tapas were DC-sized but they were full meal sized, so when three came our way along with Hans' plate of 600-grams of meat we were thoroughly horrified. The restaurant owner came by to chat and said "well done" when we'd finished most of the food but all I could think was "no, this was embarrassing". We hadn't really eaten breakfast and clearly dinner was going to be a light affair later...
We drove to the public park in town so I could check out the free public gardens and museum building, which is the last remaining structure from a public baths facility that was raised in 1906 and made to look Elizabethan (it was known locally as Tudor Towers). In the wide-stretching grounds before the museum there are several bowling greens (like bocce) and croquet lawns. Oh, so very English.
As we left town there was one more stop: Zorb! I'm not made for bungee jumping or most of the other extreme sports that are abundant in this country but I am totally game for the latest activity that was invented here. You take a large double-walled plastic ball, add a little bit of warm water, jump inside, and go careening down a hill! Before you're cut loose the opening is zipped shut so I guess eventually you'd suffocate but the ride is only a couple of minutes so it's very safe. Hans and I each Zorbed individually but we both chose the zig-zag hill that spins you around like crazy. It was such a weird but fun experience! We laughed like maniacs the the whole time. I have to say it was very comfortable too. As long as you're okay with spinning and a little g-force, the ride is very soft, squishy, and warm. The end feels a little undignified because they unzip the hole in the Zorb ball and you sort of fall out onto the ground along with all of the warm water you rode down with and it feels like a very awkward birth.
For the rest of the afternoon we drove up the Coromandel Peninsula to the house we'd be renting for the next couple of days.
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