Rotorua - Geysirs and Maori Culture (24.3.2014)

Some of you know that I enjoy watching the events done by the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), but since this sport is not televised in most countries of Europe (including Germany and Belgium) I only read the news pages after the event happens (and maybe the odd highlight GIF here and there.

I don't get it online as the live event starts usually sometime around 2 am and the main event then is at about 6 am. This Sunday there was UFC Fight Night 39 which is on Free-TV on FOX Sports. 'Why am I telling you this?', you may wonder. Well, since NZ is one of the first places to start the day and the US one of the later places to do so, the strange effect is that I was able to watch the event "live" on NZ TV on Monday morning at 10 am or something like that. It was... weird and cool ;)

I watched the Prelims before Isabel and I made our way to Rotorua for some geothermal action and Maori culture. I was skeptical since it is one of the biggest tourist places and I was worried that it may just be very impersonal... well, sadly I was right... On the way though we stopped in Cambridge, NZ, for a little special. Check the photos to see what I mean :)

Don't get me wrong, it was something that we had to do at least once, but not more often. We went to a place called Te Puia, which is a kind of cultural centre for Maori art and culture. It is situated inside a basin that was the location for a major volcanic eruption a long time ago. This place is still brimming with geothermal energy is one of the few sites where geysers can be seen. We went to see some of the sulphur-odoured geysers and took some pictures. It was interested to see that the minute concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the steam given off, have such a corrosive effect on everything made of metal there.

An hour later, we watched a display of some Maori dances and music. It was obviously made for a mass audience. We happened to be stuck this time in the omnipresent mass of Chinese tourists. I wonder if they are ever quiet and listen. It was admittedly quite annoying as we could hardly hear a word, because of the constant chatter around us. Even well placed "Shhhhh!!!!"s didn't help much. This particular display was held before a hall and shows the ritual greeting of peace to a new chieftain of another tribe. Afterwards we were swept into said hall for a 20-30 minute concert displaying their most famous dances and songs. Among them, of course, the haka, the Maori war dance. I enjoyed the dances and the songs as the show was expertly done giving a brief sense of what Maori culture was about, however, as I said, I missed anything personal about it. It was a mass event nothing more, but also nothing less ;)

At the end of it, we visited the rest of Te Puia which consisted of some walkways inside a park area with more mud pools and hot pools. Inspired by the randomly distributed wooden Maori tribal statues and to a certain extent by the haka display, we made up our own haka and took pictures of us. I gotta say, we were "very" good. I would have been afraid of myself (sometimes I still am when looking in the mirror).

Afterwards we went home again and tested the amber ale that we acquired yesterday in the Green Dragon (Hobbiton). I was worried about it, since Tolkien said the hobbits make the best beer in all Middle-Earth. Tolkien was English, so his taste in beer could have been dubious at best, so I approached this one with a healthy portion of skepticism. The amber ale turned out to be a half decent beer that had no distinctive features. I liked it, but it was nothing special.

Tomorrow we're going in to the "Black Abyss" at Waitomo caves. I am starting to be a bit worried about the weather by the way. All rainy days so far were entirely devoid of rain and very sunny and gorgeous. That leaves only two options for the sunny days we're expecting. 1) Floods befitting the built of a new ark or 2) in situ creation of Firestorms condensing the entire Tasman Sea within minutes...

I knew New Zealand knew where greatness lay :D

Check out the Thermal Vents and be glad you don't have to smell it

The yellow deposits are caused by sulphur

This particular geyser only erupts very irregularly every two weeks... we happened to be there when it happened ;)

The Maori Warrior offers peace to the other chieftain (from Mexico)

 The haka 

 

The weather tried, but it just couldn't rain. Our presence must have been inhibiting

The German haka

The Germori Warrior refuse entry

 This is not some sort of colour filter, but the effect of the hydrogen sulphide (which is highly poisonous in high concentrations by the way)... It also shows the most common tourists there ;)