A Day Chock Full of Activities
So my day was FULL of fun activities!
We enjoyed breakfast at 6:30 am and then shipped off to Rotoura. When we arrived in Rotoura, we went directly to the sheep show. We entered a huge hall full of sheep and people. Before the show, we were able to pet and take pictures with the sheep. The show began with an introduction of each type of sheep, where they live in the world and what they are best known for. I believe there were about thirty different sheep on the stage. A new sheep was brought onto the stage to be shed. The groomer and sheep were raised on a platform so it was easy to view the almost identical process I already witnessed. After the shedding was done, a cow was walked onto the stage to learn about milking. Volunteers were asked to come and try milking the cow. I shot my hand up but everyone around me was picked, I was very disappointed to say the least. After the milking, they asked for more volunteers. This time I literally jumped out of my seat and was picked! I curiously ran up to the stage. I was handed a tiny bottle of milk when I got up there and was told I was in a milk drinking contest. I absolutely HATE milk so I just looked at the guy. He was just kidding thankfully and I got to feed a baby lamb!!!! Boy, that lamb could drink! He actually yanked the bottle from me because I wasn’t going fast enough! All the little lambs were adorable, I wanted to take one home!
It was Zorb time after the show! A Zorb is an ENORMOUS inflated ball that one to three people crawl inside of. You can either be strapped in to the Zorb or you can be free in there along with some water (this type is called a Zydro). Once you’re inside, you are rolled down a hill! I choose to do the Zydro and the zig zag course by myself. I was driven to the top of the hill and waited a bit with everyone else. As I got closer to the front, I began to freak out but I am unsure why. I was finally next but I couldn’t stop fidgeting. The attendant filled my Zorb up and said “now dive in”. I took a few steps back, ran and dove in very gracefully apparently. The water was cool as it skimmed my skin and I could hear the echo of my voice. I started doing a dance with my feet in the water while I anxiously awaited my push. The attendant zipped the opening closed with a big grin. The gate opened and down I went! When I hit the first turn, I slide at least halfway up the side of the Zorb from the impact. I sloshed back down and around until the next turn when all hell broke lose. I must have hit the turn at maximum speed because I just remember going flying into the air. After that, I was flipping, turning and dancing around the ball as I gained more and more momentum. At one point, I had to close my eyes because I was getting dizzy and had no idea what direction was up. Once I hit the fence at the bottom, they rolled me to the “removal area”. The opening was positioned close to the ground so when they unzipped it, I just plopped out. Despite the minute case of dizziness, the Zorb was AWESOME! I can’t wait to do it again!
Now it was time to head over to the gondola and no, it is actually not the gondola you are thinking of. It was basically an enclosed ski lift that brought groups of four up to the top of a mountain. At the top, there were gift shops, restaurants, a luge track and amazing views of course! We sprinted right for the luge track after we literally hopped off the gondola. We grabbed our helmets and stood in line with the first time riders. When we were up, we listened to a quick talk about how to operate the luge and then we were off. It was every man for himself and well, I learned that lesson very quickly. I barely arrived at the second turn before one of my fellow Contikis bumped my car and then it was downhill from there. The view was like no other from the luge track so I often found myself forgetting to watch the road and quickly needing to jerk my luge in the other direction. Luckily, everyone waited for the slow pokes like me before heading back up the actual ski lift for lunch. I enjoyed vegetable soup for lunch while watching the mountains and water around me. After lunch, it was time for round two on the luge track. Somehow Martin and I got separated from the rest of the group so we decided to try the track on the other side. This was the intermediate track but I was ready for the challenge. Martin gave me a head start down the track but quickly caught up to me. He stuck by my side for bit continuously bumping me before showing off his luge skills. I did catch up to him at the end of the track after hitting major air on one of the drops. I finally got to bump him last minute which was a victory to me! The ride down the gondola was even better than the ride up for some unknown reason.
After the gondola was a tour of the local thermal village. To enter the village, you must cross a bridge over a river filled with children. These children were descendants of the original penny divers. As we crossed, they yelled “gold coins, gold coins” signifying that they wanted us to throw $1 and $2 coins into the river. After throwing some coins, we migrated to the village kitchen. It was located in the center of the village and consisted of two giant hot springs and wooden steam boxes. The hot springs were crystal blue in color, making one desire a jump in. However if one did jump in, they would boil to death! The villagers use the hot springs to cook vegetables. The wooden boxes are placed over significant hot spots in the ground allowing meats, stews and everything else to cook by the steam. We traveled over to where they bath next. There were cut outs in the ground where warm water was running into four different basins. The hot spring water is naturally cooled as it runs through these cut outs and is the perfect bath temperature when it enters the basins. There was a tiny changing room next to the basins where the villagers can dress and undress. After the bathing area, we got our first glimpse of the geysers. We checked out the meeting house of the village where they hold weddings, concerts, meetings, funerals and whatever else you can think of. The church and cemetery were next. Surprisingly, there are no bodies buried in the cemetery because rival tribes would steal the bones of the dead and use them as weapons. We headed over to the stage of the village and learned how they make their tribal skirts. They use reed and strip the leaf using a sharpened pahu shell. They braid what is left of the leaf and hang them up to dry. Our last stop was a closer look at the geysers and a hot spring pool cool enough to touch. It was a wonderful tour of the village even though it was extremely hot.
Dinner was very special this evening. Our dinner was cooked by the Maori people using the hot springs and steam boxes I saw early. The Maori people traditionally call their dinner a hungai when it is cooked in this fashion and follow it with a concert filled with song, dance and fear. The leader of the local Maori tribe began our dinner with a call and blessing of the food. The first course consisted of shrimp, green lipped mussels, salad, noodles and fresh vegetables. Following the starters was lamb, chicken, kumara (type of potato), sweet potatoes, corn on the cob and pumpkin. The dessert included two different bread puddings, vanilla custard, fresh fruit salad and banana bread. It was all fresh and scrumptious! After everyone finished their meals, it was time for the welcoming ceremony. A few select men and women of the local tribe danced onto the stage in traditional Maori wear. The women had headbands with feathers in their hair with an intricate top and straw skirt on their bodies and large pieces of jade around their necks. The men were shirtless with similar straw skirts to the women. They danced, sang, yelled and called around the stage while the guitar played to keep the beat. After a couple of songs, the men performed their preparation for battle. This dark song and dance was used to mentally prepare themselves while scaring their enemies before battle. The head of the tribe asked for volunteers to go learn a traditional dance and of course I immediately raised my hand. I hopped up on stage to learn how to use the ball and rope (honestly I cannot remember the proper name) quite frequently used in their dances. We learned four basic moves and the words that go along with each. The moves looked very simple but were actually somewhat challenging. After practicing a few times, we added some music and thats when the real fun began. I had a blast up there even though I made some minor mistakes in front of everyone. Next, the men learned how to invoke fear in their enemies and then it was time for closing ceremonies. I was fascinated to see their traditional dances and learn about their culture that I honestly never knew existed.
After dinner, a group of us decided to hop back in our “swimmers” and walk over to the spa. There was varying temperature mineral water baths at the spa starting at 38 degrees all the way up to 41 degrees centigrade. The baths were more like pools but they felt fantastic! The mineral water has almost an oily feeling to it so my skin and hair felt soft and nourished afterwards. We spent about an hour and a half soaking in the pools and I felt more relaxed than ever. It was the perfect way to end a long but eventful day.
