Road to Rotorua

Road to Rotorua

Started out from the hotel in Auckland getting a last view of the wide array of architecture that has graced the city over the past 100 years or so. It is hard to remember that New Zealand and Auckland in particular, is such a newly populated place by Europeans and even by the Maori.

The rolling green hillsides are invariably punctuated by the terraces carved into them by those first inhabitants when they came here about a 1000 years ago and began farming the fertile soil. The terraces have prevented the erosion that caused our dust bowl conditions in the American west. The lack of mechanized farming methods probably also helped. It is amazing that all of that work was done without tractors. We made a brief shopping stop in Huntly where we were shown that even in a seeming backwater town there is attention to detail and customer service abounds.

Our lunch at Roseland was another pleasant event. The food was great and I was able to learn a new technique: wrapped spinning onto a core. Heather was using a Majacraft Rose to spin her hand carded angora over a finely spun core of merino. She turned her spinning wheel over to me and I was in heaven. While I had been feeling pretty pale after hours of riding in the bus, it took just a few minutes of spinning the silky fiber before I was ready to eat. Isn’t it great how fiber therapy works?

Of course, we smelled Rotorua before we saw her. The sulphurous springs, geysers and mudpots that punctuate the landscape give the entire region its distinctive odor. And while the inhabitants joke about it, it doesn’t seem to do them much harm. Over dinner we met some firefighters in town for their annual training exercises. It seems Rotorua is the site of the national Firefighter Training College. Carol and I decided to take advantage of the hotel pool, which, followed by a soak in the hotel hot spa, released some of the stiffness of the bus ride.

Our first outing in Rotorua was a walk in the park to view geysers and mudpots, of all things. Our guide, Steve, was very knowledgeable about the whole spectrum of plantlife to be found in the park around Lake Rotorua, where on our boat ride we saw the water erupting out of the hillsides. Some of the pools were very hot and very acidic, while others were cool enough to dip our hands into and neutral enough not to harm skin. Signs all over warned people to stay on the paths and  visitors in the past who didn’t pay attention sometimes didn’t live to tell about it. The area is still quite volcanically active as evidenced by the disappearance of the Pink and White Terraces in the last big eruption. We were shown where they slid into the lake. The scenery was just spectacular and it doesn’t seem possible to either do it justice with words or pictures despite my continuing attempts.

Our second guide, Liam, showed us more hot water and gave some insight into the Maori view of the hot water experience in this place.  We learned more about flora, fauna and geology of the place as well. Liam regaled us with his Maori tales and by pronouncing the 3^rd longest Maori word. The Maori carvers, who are apprenticed for 3 years here at the center, were at work carving several huge pieces for an installation. The woods being used were totara and kauri. The kauri is protected as it is a very slow-growing tree, taking more than 600 years to reach full size and the totara tree can be carved in any direction without splitting (Jeremy!) We were also privileged to be able to watch an extremely talented artist at work with the native flax plant which is processed by hand and woven into garments for traditional dance and celebrations. Her moko was also quite impressive.

The scale of Maori art was staggering. On every side we saw huge carvings of intricate design and the next thing we knew we were looking at beautiful small pieces of greenstone, bone and wood shaped into jewelry. The Maori artisans are simply astounding in their versatility.

Got dropped off in town to walk around a little bit before dinner. Found a yarn shop…closed. Found an independent bookshop owned by Dave McLeod and bought a book by the author of Whale Rider. Can’t wait. The walk back to the hotel was longer than I expected but no doubt good for me.

Our meal that night was a traditional Maori hangi. In preparation, Albert had chosen our “chief” to be Joe, who would accept the Maori warrior challenge and be our entree’ into the marae and feasting. When we were welcomed by Hugh, our guide and later to be one of the performers, he explained further how the challenge would work. Joe looked more nervous by the moment, but when the challenge came with the young warrior rushing out with his weapon flying, Joe was up to it and performed admirably. We were graced with many songs and dances by the family hosting us, including a traditional Maori love song by Hugh and his lovely wife, both accomplished vocalists. Hugh’s deep baritone and his wife’s soprano blended perfectly to tell the happy tale. Several members of the audience were invited onstage to join in. Men were invited to dance in a haka and women joined in a poi dance.

The meal that followed was overwhelming in its variety and its sheer volume. Everyone waddled away stuffed after sampling all the traditional dishes. How could anyone resist? I swear: I only had one bite of most things!

Pictures to follow!