Brad was so excited to get to Rotorua because it meant Hobbiton! You can go on a guided tour of the movie set and peak at all the hobbit holes. We got lucky with the weather and it was such a sunny day! We arrived with our group and jumped on the mini bus to the set. Admittedly I haven't watched the films properly so I wasn't as excited- I was just there to be Brads photographer; which he took advantage of as I'm pretty sure he got a picture in front of every hobbit hole and everything he saw- even crossing over ropes and things we weren't meant to just to get a picture. It was really nice to see and the area is so well maintained! We were told a lot of facts about the movies and sets- including a tree that was cut down and put back together again in a different area, but because it had been cut down and was dying the leaves had turned different colours; so they hired university students to hand paint all the leaves on the tree. We were there for a few hours then we were given a free cider/beer in the green dragon pub.
When we got back onto the coach we were taken to our overnight cultural Maori experience. This was in a little village and we were told we needed to prepare a chant ready for the village leaders. The song chosen was spice girls- if you wanna be my lover so we all rehearsed and were ready to make an entrance. We arrived, sung our song and then had afternoon tea, as in the Maori culture when you do anything sacred/special you have to neutralise it with food- which was absolutely fine by me. After too many biscuits and making our own jam donuts we were taken to play some games. We played one for about 45 minutes with long poles where you have to chant then throw them to the person next to you, or beyond them. We picked it up quite quickly- minus a few who really didn't know how to catch; but it was good fun. Then we were shown our rooms- they were huge rooms with single beds down each side; one was for 20 people and the other room held 15. We were told about the structure of the huts, as each one represented a loved one who had passed on. Next we had to learn a song in Maori and do some actions. This was so much fun and we later had to perform this to the evening guests. We had time to change and put some warmer clothes on ready for the opening performance by the villagers. This was so amazing to watch and slightly scary at times as it's similar to the huka facial expression wise; and it's very disrespectful to laugh. It lasted about 15 minutes and then we were invited in to learn more about each sector in Maori culture/society. Unfortunately they were only workers but they all descended from the culture and were dressed (including temporary facial tattoos) and performed no different to how you would've expected back in the day. We learnt about different roles in society and it was incredible to learn more about it; as travelling through New Zealand it is mentioned a lot and all places still have their Maori names, so it interested me quite a bit. We then had dinner- it was made underground for several hours and was so tasty. As backpackers we were so grateful for a nice meal and it was so nice to be cooked for instead of having to do it yourself (mum I will never take your cooking for granted again)
After dinner the other guests went home, but we stayed and we got the hot tubs to ourselves and the bar! The girls and I took advantage of the huge open fire so we warmed up and toasted some marshmallows. Then jumped in the hot tubs for a few hours! It was nice to chill and chat with everyone and it makes you closer as a group because you can really get to know everyone. We went to bed in the early hours of the morning and we had a buffet breakfast at about 8am which was so nice.
Overall the Maori experience was one of the best memories I will have from travelling. You cannot experience it anywhere else and it was so nice to just listen to other people's way of life and the history of their country. It was definitely worth every penny and I am so happy we did the overnight experience instead of the evening one because you just don't get to experience it properly!
The next morning we headed for Rotorua's geothermal parks to see the geysers. I was actually quite looking forward to this because it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. But as we were driving towards it the whole town of Rotorua absolutely stinks like rotten eggs because of all the geothermal activity. We entered the park and went round with a tour guide who explained how the activity was happening and different aspects of the Maori culture. She also took some eggs and was able to cook them in one of the geysers, that's how hot they are. It was amazing to see and one of the geysers was extremely active!
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Rotorua and it was probably one of my favourite places in New Zealand we went to. We didn't explore the town because we simply didn't have time to, but all the activities were amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment