The Maori Experience

This is Thursday evening 24 February 2011 in Rotorua, New Zealand.  Tonight I will experience the meal of the Maori called the Hangi.  First off the Maori are first settlers to New Zealand..coming by way of the Polynesian culture....there life expectancy today is only 46....very low compared to other New Zealanders with life expectancy of 70.  This is of course dependant by their culture and lifestyle.  This is one of their centers that is a meeting house and used only for events such as weddings, funerals, and tribal business.

The meal consumed this evening was prepared in this large oven.  It is steam generated and takes most of the day to cook.  It included, lamb, potatoes, pumpkin and squash.  Other items served were slaw, and a pasta dish.  Here is the oven...

The evening ceremony began with a calling by the Maori warrior to partake a meal....here is the calling....

We were then led into the dining room to partake of the Hangi.....and then following the meal were treated to a concert of Maori songs, chants and the stirring haka...which is the chant/dance performed with the warriors showing their strength and often using gestures and facial expressions to scare....I will let the pictures describe the scene....

And more dancing....

Check out these facial expressions....

Okay....that is it for today....tomorrow....off to Auckland....

Rotorua...time for a small bit of adventure

The day begins at the Agrodome....to view various sheep breeds...there was also a shearing demonstration and a dog working the sheep.   The sheep....and I must admit I had no idea there were this many variety of sheep....here is a photo of the entire presentation of breeds on one stage....yes these are real sheep not stuffed!!

Now here are some close-ups of my favorites...again these are the real deal...

 

Okay...I have put up pictures on the blog earlier on some Sheep Shearing....so I will not duplicate the process here...just provide a couple of pics of the shearer and the shereree....

and...who could leave the sheep farm without seeing the dog  ( who by the way does not bark...is 4years old and responds to both whistle and voice commands....knowing his right and left!!!) and a couple of the lambs....

Then it is off to a nature park and see the Kiwi and some birds, lizards and trout.  Now the Kiwi we saw was not the conventional Kiwi you see in most pictures...those we were not allowed to photograph...only stuffed ones (I will save those for another time)...but there was an interesting variety of Kiwi we did see and here she is....by the way they have tried to mate her with two other males...and she killed both of them!!!!

Now the trout...which are plentiful in New Zealand...but only for the fisherman...you cannot sell them...or poach them to sell...if you are caught it is a very heavy fine....

Now for some birds....my favorite is probably this large pigeon.....but the parrot is so lovable .....

Next up....some of the hot...hot....sulfur smelling....stinky.....thermal springs....along with the mud ponds...

What afternoon would be complete without a luge ride!  WHAT....ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!  I must tell  you I thought I was out of my mind when they suggested this.  The group went up on  a gondola to the top...and there was a restaurant, gift shop and LUGE!  It is like a go cart...but travels down at your selected speed (yeah...right).  Why not...well little did I know it was a twist and turn all the way down...it took about 10 minutes...those were 10 long long minutes....you will not see the picture of me coming down that was taken by the automatic camera...I will save that for later..so I will give you a picture of the gondola going up the hill....me in the helmet...and me just before I crashed into the wall...literally!!!  And finally the chair lift that took me back up the hill for another luge ride down the hill....forget it...one was enough for me...I came back down the second time on the gondola.

Okay...next is a Maori meal and concert.....but for another blog...

Wellington via Taupo to Rotorua

I was just thankful to wake up and find I was standing on firm ground....the room had not shifted and the glass was not broken.  While I was not waking up in Christchurch this morning I was in Wellington - and it just happens to be more infamous for earthquakes than Christchurch.  So let me try and put that whole episode behind me....but it may take a few days.

I leave Wellington in the rain...just past the ferry that brought me here yesterday....also 2 cruise ships docked this morning....so it is a good day to be on the move out of the city.  That journey today took me across the Himatangi Plains....more sheep....more cattle....more deer.....you have the drill I will save you from seeing more sheep pictures till later...and believe me you must come back to the Blog for those.

I tried for over 30 minutes to get a good shot of the volcanic cone of Mt. Ruapehu....weather and clouds just did not cooperate.  This baby erupts now and then....nothing disastrous just a spewing to show you who is boss....no it did not erupt while I was in the area....

Oh well...but I did find the calcification of this rock an interesting photo.  I was entering an area of thermal springs...I mean a lot of thermal springs...spas....baths...and a thermo-electric power system from steam!!

As we progressed toward Rotorua Lake Taupo....beautiful....

Just before we got to Rotorua we made a quick stop at Huka Falls.....just as we arrived one of the jet boats took a group of tourists...not me.....down these rapids....

I was the smart boy...here I am with the falls at my back...

As we enter Rotorua...which by the way is the center for the Maori culture (Maori were first settlers to New Zealand and have huge presence and historic  importance)....a para-sail comes up over the lake....

Now a couple fun pics to end my day .... the first is dedicated to my friends at DC3 in Washington DC....they are the hot dog gurus of 8th Street SE.....Drew and Ty....this is a real DC3 restaurant....(McDonalds..BTW)....

Maybe someone in Washington will give Drew or Ty the blog address and they can follow along...and also tell Ty what he missed by not giving me that DC3 cap to model around the World!!!!

Okay....finally...I so want the District of Columbia to adopt this policy....may not be a bad idea for metro either....

BTW....the streets are clean....must have had some effect!!!

Christchurch to Wellington

As you read in my previous blog today....I was blessed to get out of Christchurch before the earthquake....a very devastating disaster.

The trip from Christchurch was in two legs....the first by rail from Christchurch to Picton....then the second by ferry from Picton to Wellington.  An adventure that lasted from 7:00am till almost 5:00pm.

The Tranz Scenic rail trip is one of the Great Train Escapes in New Zealand.  On the train today which is the TranzCostal it covered the upper portion of the South Island and the Pacific Ocean was visible for almost 100 Kilometers.  The train is a hoot.....there is an observation car....and it is open air....catch this...

  

Cool huh?  Well today it was really cool...since it was about 17 degrees Celsius and a strong wind.  But look at how narrow it was between cars...

Most of the journey on the train looked like this out my window....

But then at times it was clear enough to catch a glimpse of the mountains...

Then the Pacific came into view....awesome....there is just something so majestic and awe inspiring as the power and beauty of the the ocean....it is a definite top draw for me.

All along this coast you could see seals and of course the ever present surfer trying to catch the big one are ride it to glory......

Then I reached Picton and walked from the train to the ferry.....it was huge...I would have no idea how many cars, trucks, bus and campers were loaded on that ship...hundreds.  It had 10 decks and I did see went we boarded as passengers the accommodation for cars was stacking them 4 high!!

Here is the the Interislander I sailed on today....

So.....tonight I am in Wellington, NZ....in my hotel room on the 11th floor!!!!!!  Take a look at Wellington from my window....

Tomorrow....it is off to see the North Island for the next 7 days.....and .say a prayer for the poor people of Christchurch....