Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe (aka Rotorua)

Flying Kiwi: Friday 18.01.08

Next stop was Rotorua. You can smell it before you see it, because of the sulfur from the thermal springs that come up from beneath the ground. Yup - rotten egg smell. Sam and I have been to the Polynesian Spas before (when we traveled south with Alex and Stuart), as well as seen the geothermal volcanic hot pools where the steam rises right off the water. The water actually ripples, but I don't know if that was because it was actually boiling or if it had anything to do with any gases in the water or whatnot. Anywho, Sam and I ended up not really doing much here, so yeah.

There are plenty of fun things to do in Rotorua that Sam and I have already done. Like luging. Basically it's like go-karts, but on this little piece of plastic with no pedals. The position at which you hold your handlebar controls your speed. All the way forward is "park" (which you never want to use while going downward), middle is "go," and pulling back on the handlebars engages the brakes. If you go pretty fast, it's very possible to flip over at one of the turns. I have no pictures from luging in Rotorua, but you'll see pictures from the luge in Queenstown.

There's also this place called the Agrodome, where they have different activites to try. The biggest one would be zorbing. I would have liked to go, but I felt like it was a waste of money. Basically you're put in this huge bubble with some water, and you slosh around inside while it rolls downhill. The hill isn't very big, and the ride lasts about 20 seconds. Maybe not even that much. I heard it's fun though. You know, it's the kind of ride where you giggle all the way down. The picture below shows my friends Hayley and Sarah (UK) going down together. No other pictures though, sorry.

Pictures

Sandboarding
You weren't supposed to stand on these things, but you know Sam, he just had to try. I think he tumbled off about halfway down the hill.

The view of the sand dunes from the other side of the harbor.


Kauri Forest
The huge kauri tree named Tane Mahuta. If you can see the people near the bottom of the picture, you might get an idea of it's size.



Waiwera Campsite
The kid from the Waiwera campsite named Tyler, with his wicked Optimus Prime headgear.



Hot Water Beach
Brad and Sam digging in the sand. It proved to be impossible at the time, so they waited another 30 minutes for the tide to be at its lowest.


The small hot pool - more like warm pool - after it was finished. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the better one further along the beach.

Coromandel Peninsula

Flying Kiwi: Thursday 17.01.08

Going back south we passed through Auckland, dropping off some people and picking up others. Then we headed toward the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula. A sea kayaking trip or 2-hr walk to Cathedral Cove was available, and I heard that it was absolutely gorgeous, but it had gotten extremely hot while we set up our tents at the new campsite. So we decided to forego the siteseeing and just get down to the beach for some sun, sand, and waves. The waves were brutal, swirling up the sand from the bottom, tossing our bodies around with no effort whatsoever. Sam determinately kept trying to surf the waves with the boogie board, but I gave up quickly, having swallowed enough of the salt water that burned my throat.

That evening, we all went to Hot Water Beach, where there are extremely hot rocks underneath the sand along the shore in some areas. So at low tide, people (usually tourists, haha) bring along spades (kiwi for "shovels") to try and build hot pools in the sand where the hot rocks are located. To find a good hot area you just had to dig your feet into the sand and see if you felt any warmth - in some places, resting your feet in sand less than 6 inches deep for more than a couple seconds would cause burns. It took us awhile to get a sandbar going to keep out the water from the waves, and in the end our hot pool was somewhat disappointing. We were too close to the water's edge and the waves kept breaking our sandbar, refilling the holes we had just dug. I didn't feel like getting wet, so I just huddled with some girls with our feet resting in warm sand. Further along the beach, a massive group of people had succeeded in creating a large hot pool. Enough water from the waves had gotten inside the sand bar area to create a pool deep enough to soak in, they had a solid wall going around the area to enclose it, and they had found spots so hot that even if you weren't resting on top of that spot, the heat had warmed all the water to make a good hot pool. Very nice.

If you've read my previous blog, you know that I was freaking out about some pictures I had lost. I did manage to find the pictures from the first couple weeks of my trip. It turns out they were on another SD card I'd forgotten about. But I know that I did have pictures on my USB drive, but now I have no idea what was on it. Hopefully they were just copies from an SD card I'd already uploaded or didn't erase...

Northland - Opononi/Kauri Forests/Waiwera

Flying Kiwi: Wednesday 16.01.08

We left camp at 8:30, and headed to Opononi, home of Opo the Friendly Dolphin. Apparently in the 50s, there used to be a dolphin that swam in the bay with the children of the town before it was cruelly shot by an unknown assassin. He is buried there now, and there was a statue of him erected in loving memory.

There we took a boat shuttle across the bay to the large sand dunes to go sandboarding! It's pretty simple: you carry a boogie/body board to the top of the dune, and basically slide down toward the water. If you started on a dune high enough or didn't brake at all on the way down with your feet, the boogie board would also carry you into the bay, splashing as the board skidded over the surface of the water. It was good fun, but tiring to walk up the dune, and the thrill of it wore off pretty quickly for Sam and me. I also do think that the amount of fun you have depends on the people that you're with, and unfortunately, Sam and I hadn't developed any great friendships yet. If we had gone sandboarding with the people who joined our tour in Christchurch and Queenstown (about 3 weeks later), I think I would have had a better time. Oh well. Can't say that I didn't like the sun and the sand that day.

The bus continued it's drive through the Northland region, and we stopped to do a quick 15 minute walk through the Kauri Forests. There was a single kauri tree that was absolutely gigantic. The interesting thing is that the plants that surround these trees have unusually shallow roots, and just stepping on them could destroy the plantlife in those forests. The kauri trees are venerated by Maori as being sacred, called "Tane Matua" ("God of the Forest") or"Te Matua" ("Father of the Forest"). There's also some Maori story about these trees, but I don't remember it now, so I'll have to look it up later. Apparently these trees are the world's largest trees after the Californian Sequoias. Impressive, eh? During the English settlement of New Zealand, these trees were in danger of extinction, and now they are protected by the government. During our quick walk we were lucky enough to see a local guide sing a sacred Maori hymn to the tree.

That night we camped in a holiday park/campsite in Waiwera, which happened to be right next door to the hot pools. With our Flying Kiwi discount - only $10 NZD - we relaxed in the spas after dinner. Funnily enough they also had slides (also in warm water). Sam and I decided to go on just one: the Black Hole. I didn't see the light at the end of it until it was too late - it an was alarmingly fast slide - and I plunged into the pool before I had a chance to register what was happening. There was also a "movie pool" where there was a large screen tv - unfortunately, they weren't showing movies but just tv shows on the local channel. A bit of a disappointment there. But all in all, good fun getting to know the people in our tour group.

Last (and totally random) note: around our camp area there was a little boy who kept showing up around our site - very odd. He became more familiar with us as people started chatting with him. He wanted so badly to impress us - you could tell - that he brought out this awesome Optimus Prime helmet, with voice modulator and everything, haha. I guess he was kinda cute, but clearly craving for attention, and when we left the next morning, he got all upset and couldn't stop saying "bye" as we waited for the bus to go.

As for pictures, I have so many I'm in the process of uploading them all onto pbase for the next several days. Unfortunately, I seem to be doing them all in the wrong order, so it seems like none of the pictures that I need for this blog are up yet. Sorry!

Nix that: it turns out that almost all the photos from the first half of the trip are gone! This stupid computer thought my USB drive (where I'd stored my photos to free up my SD card) had a virus on it and proceeded to delete everything on it! Why oh why!! ARGH. If I was one to swear, I'd use one now. =[

P.S. This daily blogging is getting hard to do, because I'm editing my journal entries to make them more enjoyable and coherent, all after a full day's work at the packhouse. I probably won't update daily, although I'll try to do so as much as possible.

Bay of Islands - Waka Tour

Flying Kiwi: Tuesday 15.01.08

In the morning Sam and I went on a Waka Tour - a waka is a Maori war canoe. They taught us how to paddle, although I can't remember any of the verbal commands. I also learned a puhaka (or was it puhana?), which is a war chant/glare. After the verbal command and chant, everyone glares to the left (or right, depending on the command) while holding up their paddles with wide-open eyes, and the guys also stick out their tongues (you can see what the glares look like in the group picture below).

Our guide was the chief of the tribe we were headed to see. On the other side of the river was the land on which his family's marae was situated. A marae is a family temple, considered sacred, where Maori spiritual and traditional ceremonies are held. A little side note: our guide technically isn't Maori; his people had inhabited New Zealand before the Maori came, and his people had embraced and shared their culture with the newcomers. I thought that was pretty interesting, but I'll call them Maori anyway, just to make it easier.

Getting off the canoe on the other side of the river, we learned how a foreigner is welcomed (or not welcomed, depending on the outcome). The chief of our group (some Aussie not part of Flying Kiwi) declared that we came in peace by accepting a feather dropped by one of the people in the tribe - to do this he slowly picks it up, stands up again, and holds it out on his palm, all the while never breaking eye-contact with the Maori who dropped it in front of him. The one who dropped it is the grandson of our guide (therefore he is also the chief of the tribe like his grandfather), and he's only 8 years old. He made elaborate threatening moves with his weapon - a Maori dueling spear/staff called a "taiaha" - as he approached us, before dropping the feather in front of him. After accepting our presence, he took off running, and a woman began chanting aloud in Maori language, which was supposed to announce to all the warriors hiding around us (there weren't any) that the incoming group was not to be touched.

Then we entered their marae, a short, humbling one-room shack made out of rough planks of wood. Against the wall opposite the door was a "photo" of the guide's father, which the tribe views as their guardian. Our guide asked if we could see the photo, but as we looked for the missing picture frame, we realized that the carved wooden statue perched in the middle of the table was what he considered a "portrait" of his father. As we looked at the statue, the guide mentioned that this was also supposed to be a moment to remember our own lost loved ones, and in that moment, share in the grief and remembrance together. So I thought of Cindy. Her 21st birthday had just passed too, if you hadn't notice the dates.

Then sitting down, they proceeded with the spiritual ceremony, starting with a great monologue spoken in the Maori language by the 8-year-old chief. When he had finished, the rest of the family (the guide/chief, his two daughters, his three grandchildren - one of which is the 8-year-old boy, - his nephew, and his future son-in-law) stood and proceeded to sing a song in honor of their chief and tribe. During this entire time I'd been studying the marae, the family, their clothing. So traditional, but so real; not some sham or show that they put on just to please the tourists. This is how they live!

When the song finished, our own "tribe" was invited to sing in honor of our "chief," therefore we simply sang a single refrain of "You Are My Sunshine," haha. Then everyone got to say a word to the family if they wished, inviting us to share our culture with them. Others stood up and said a couple words. I myself even thanked them for inviting us into their home and culture, and since they also asked us to speak any other language that was available to us, I simply said in Korean, Many Blessings for Your New Year - sae hae bok mah ni bah de sae yo. You Koreans know what I'm talking about. It's the only thing I could think of at the moment, particularly since I'm so shy about my Korean-speaking abilities, and New Years had just passed a couple weeks beforehand. Not bad, eh?

Getting off the subject.

The ceremony concluded with all the guests going around and greeting each member of the Maori as done in their tradition: touching foreheads and noses, saying "kia ora" ("greetings"). Then it was time to leave, so we did the usual photo-op, and climbed back into the waka to return to the other side of the river.

We did stop by the Huaruru Falls again, this time arriving by waterway, and heard the falls thundering around us as the guides maneuvered the waka toward it. Very cool.

Auckland & Bay of Islands

Flying Kiwi: Monday 14.01.08

It was sort of to a bad start. Ashley drove us to the pickup point at Queen and Quay Streets in Auckland. But her car broke down just as we got there. I hope she's okay - last I heard she was headed down to the South Island. So-Jung left for Australia, and Martin is now working in Auckland, I assume.

We drove straight up to the Bay of Islands, on the old bus named "Lola." Our guide is named Nga (the "g" is silent), and our driver is named Brad (or "Bred" if saying it with a kiwi accent). He's got one of the hardest kiwi accents to understand, and I have to really pay attention when he's speaking, otherwise it just flies right over my head.

Later in the afternoon I went on a bike/cycle ride, 15km, into the first campsite, which was very hilly and tiring. We started in the town called Paihia, up the hills around a scenic loop, and stopped to look at Huaruru Falls. Huaruru means "rumble" or "rumbling" which is evidently heard from the sound of the water. It reminded us of Niagara falls because it was wide and there was a constant mist hovering over the water.

The campsite was called "Bay of Islands Holiday Park" where we set up our tents and kitchen area. That night one of the cook groups whipped up some pasta for dinner, and afterward, some people left to go watch a Maori concert, which Sam and I opted out of. Since Sam and I decided not to share tents, I've got my own, and it's nice having my own private space. Not much for the first day, but it was nice and relaxed.

The first picture shows the group that we drove up with to Auckland before starting Flying Kiwi. [left to right: Sam, Me, So-Jung/Sojay, Ashley, Martin]. I miss 'em already. The other pics are of the 15km bike ride, with Huaruru Falls shown in the last one.

Back to Work

Unfortunately.

Sam and I have finished our Flying Kiwi Tour, which was totally awesome, and now that we've run out of money (yes, we're broke), it's back to work for us. I've already contacted the packhouse we were at before, and they're more than happy to let us come back, which is great, because we don't have to look for work.

I know a lot of you are probably wondering how our month-long adventure throughout NZ went, so for the next 28 days (starting Monday?), I'll be posting up detailed day by day entries, along with photos, if I have the time to organize them. Got a ton of photos. =]

Our next plan is to work until the end of March, then swing on over to Australia for a couple weeks (spend one week in Sydney with ebang and the other in Melbourne with some aussies we met on Flying Kiwi). After than it's only a couple of weeks before flying back home.

The tour was a great thing for us, and we met a lot of awesome people, and I already miss hanging out with them. But hey, that's what email and facebook is for, yeah?

Hope you guys are all doing well in the cold and snow (I heard there was a blizzard a couple weeks ago or something?). Take care!