Tuesday morning we left Uni at 10:30, Alan was nice enough to drive us to the airport so we didn't have to worry about catching the bus and getting there on time. We checked in our bags and then waited for the flight to depart. While we waited I was able to catch up on my journal and had a steak and cheese pie for lunch. 11:15 came and we loaded the plane. it was pretty empty so Liza and I were both able to have our own double seats. All along the way I took pictures out of the plane. It was a gorgeous view of the Alps and the lush farm land. It was around 1:30 when we landed in Rotorua We got our bags and waited for 20 min until the bus arrived. As we were gathering our bags we just happen to have the luck where the bus kept on driving, not even looking back to pick us up! Ugg...figures. So we waited another 30 minutes for the next one to arrive. And this time we were ready! Liza stood out in the street and made him stop, it was quite the crack up really.
We made our way into town and after a while we were able to find our hostel, we stayed at Treks, YHA. It was a real nice hostel compared to some other ones that I have been to. We had our own room, so we had no excuses of not studying. Once we got our things dropped off we decided to go walk through town until 5 where we had booked to go to the Mitai Maroi village. We glanced in the various shops for gifts and topped off our afternoon with a flake of ice cream from McDonalds. Once we got back we waited for the Mitai tour to pick us up. While we waited we ended up meeting a couple of guys who were from Canada. They had just arrived in NZ a few days ago and are backpacking through the country, with all of the traveling I've done lately it is still soo neat to meet people from other cultures.
It was just after 6 when we got picked up. We made our way to the village where we were seated and got a brief outline of the events for the evening. At the introduction we got the opportunity to share where we were from etc.. and all of the "tourists" were formed to create the tribe of Nine Nations. We had to choose a "chief" for our tribe who would face the Mitai chief. We learned a few of the Maroi songs and headed off to see the men of the Mitai village row up on their homemade canoe. After we got to see them row on their sacred waters we were taken to a viewing area where we got to see the village perform several dances and songs regarding the history of the Maroi. They showed us the Haka war dance, which the Maroi people are well known for. It was an amazing experience. All through the ceremony the chief taught us about their culture and some of their history. It was actually rather fascinating. During the performance the chief form the Nine Nations (our tribe) had to face the Mitai chief. He had to speak in Maroi and thank him for the gifts he has given us. The Mitai chief accepted his speech and they pressed foreheads.
After the ceremony we got the opportunity to have a buffet of all Maroi food. It was absolutely amazing! They fixed the food underground by cooking it for three hours with stones from the river. It was a neat process they showed us, but the food was even better. They served us chicken, lamb, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, bread, and a delicious dessert of chocolate logs and a custard. Since Liza and I are living in the halls and have been eating nothing but cafeteria food, we went to town on the buffet. But since we paid a decent amount to go we figured we needed to get our money worth!
We topped off the evening by going on a moonlight walk. It just started to rain and they gave us a glorified trash bag to wear. It was literally made from trash bag material, but it had sleeves, cuffs around the wrists and even a hood with the trash bag drawstring!! It was quite impressive. As we made our way through the night we got to see our first Kiwi bird!! Ahhh it was soo
War haka (peruperu) were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. Today, haka constitute an integral part of formal or official welcome ceremonies for distinguished visitors or foreign dignitaries, serving to impart a sense of the importance of the occasion.
Various actions are employed in the course of a performance, including facial contortions such as showing the whites of the eyes and the poking out of the tongue, and a wide variety of vigorous body actions such as slapping the hands against the body and stamping of the feet. As well as chanted words, a variety of cries and grunts are used. Haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent many instruments. The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy or other feelings relevant to the purpose of the occasion.
The next morning, Wednesday I had scheduled to go on a tour to the Waitomo Caves. The Waitomo Caves are very famous for their glow worms! The Waitomo Glowworm Caves were first explored in 1887 by local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau accompanied by an English surveyor Fred Mace. Local Maori people knew of the Caves existence, but the subterranean caverns had never been extensively explored until Fred and Tane went to investigate. They built a raft of flax stems and with candles as their only lighting, floated into the cave where the stream goes underground.
As they entered the caves, their first discovery was the Glowworm Grotto with its myriad of tiny bright lights dotting the cave ceiling. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they saw a multitude of lights reflecting off the water. Looking up, they discovered that the ceilings were dotted with the lights of thousands of glowworms. Debris and logs littered the waterway, but by poling themselves toward the embankment they were able to leave the raft and explore the lower levels of the cave. Here they found themselves surrounded by the glorious cave decorations.
Jubilant at their discovery, they returned many times to explore further, and on an independent trip Chief Tane discovered the upper level of the cave and an easier access. Only after many subsequent visits did they discover an entry point on land. This is the same entry point used today by thousands of visitors annually.
The Glow Worm caves were absolutely amazing! I truly enjoyed it, I think it was probably one of the best things that I have done thus far on my journey in New Zealand. It is hard to describe how neat it was. They first took us down into the limestone caves and we looked at the formations of the stalactites and stalagmites. It takes 100 years for a cm to grow!! It was so neat! They took us into an area where they called it the Cathedral. It was a giant open room that many events had taken place. People have had a wedding there, choirs etc.. It is said to be the perfect sound system because the limestone does not create an echo effect. Our tour guide even sang a Maroi song and it was beautiful.
After we looked at all of the formation they showed us the habitat of the glow worms and then took us on a small fishing boat beneath the caves so we were able to see thousands of glow worms light up the cave.
That afternoon I got back from the tour around 1:30 and Liza and I decided that we wanted to go zorbing!!! Zorbing is an activity that was actually founded in Rotorua by a man whose first intention was to make people walk on water. Well turns out it wasn't that exciting, so instead he put these giant plastic balls on a mountain side! Well, to explain zorbing you are basically acting like a hamster inside a giant plastic ball that can be filled with water or have no water. You get into the ball and they roll you down the mountain! It was actually quite fun, I decided to stay dry and be harnessed. So I got in the ball, harnessed myself into the seat and then they pushed me down. I went head over feet for about 30 seconds until I came to a stop, but it was an experience I'm glad I did.
After our zorbing extravaganza we got back to the hostel where we decided that we should probably study. I spent the rest of the evening studying for my genetics and plants exams. It was such a good trip, I'm really glad we went even though it did cost us time from school. The next morning we got up early and did some more studying before we headed to the airport. We were able to catch a bus at 10:00am and arrived out at the airport. As we got out of the bus they announced that all flights had been delayed!! Ugg, due to the heavy fog all flights had been delayed, we didn't know when we would be getting back or if we were. We tried to check in our bags but they wouldn't take them. So as we waited for the fog to clear and I decided to get in some studying. As time passed I was starting to wonder about our situation. I got my things together and went and asked the front desk what the deal was....well turns out our plane was taking off!!!!! Oh yes they did not announce this and our bags were not even checked in yet! So we gave them our bags and ran out to the plane to catch it just in time. I guess we got too involved in studying for school.
We got back into Christchurch around 1:45. We got our bags and were able to take the bus back to Uni. It was a long drawn out day but well worth the frustration. We spent the remaining time studying some more. And honestly, after all of this Id like to say that we are not so much of bad students, as were are excellent multitaskers who are making the most of their New Zealand experience!
However, the week wasn't as glorious as it seems. Tuesday (Monday morning in the US) my amazing Uncle Fritz passed away. I was sad and heart broken to hear the news, but I know he is in a better place. It was hard to read the email from Dad, reading it I could picture everything that was taking place. But the thing that worried me the most was Dad and Uncle Dan. I talked to Dad on skype the night I got back and it was hard to see him talk about it. I know it really hurt him and the family, I just wish I could have been there to support them all. As much as I love being in NZ, I also know that my time has come to a costly expense. It's hard to read and hear about a tragedy so far from home and not be able to do anything about it. It was only a few weeks ago I sent him and e-mail and told him we had a date for the next county fair in July. I was really looking forward to it, but I know that one day we will have it. Uncle Fritz was an amazing man who touched many lives and I'm proud to call him my Uncle. I love you Uncle Fritz.
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