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Day 7 adventures in NZ - Rotorua


Day 7 Adventures in NZ
Staying in Rotorua for 3 nights, so our 2nd full day here. Today we went off to another Maori site called Te Pau. This is a reasonable big area which still has local people living at the back of the park area. It has lots of walking tracks to see the various parts of the park.



Our local guide took us on a walk for 1 1 /2 hrs through various parts explaining how the Maori came to be in NZ, how they went about sourcing and cooking food, and finding new materials to make clothes and items out of for the their use.



We went into an enclosure that has kiwis in an artificially managed environment so visitors can try and catch a glimpse of them as they are nocturnal naturally. They have a good breeding program here to help restore their numbers as local pests as in Australia, have had a big impact on their natural habitat and numbers.
We got to see natural mud pools bubble up and natural geysers shoot hot water up into the air. Yes, it is smelly here as well from the natural sulfur gases. Fascinating stuff to see firsthand.

geysers

Mud pools

The bluey pool

Here they have apprentices working and learning the old and new crafts; ways of carving, weaving and tattooing. They do 3 years then take it back to their own tribes or areas to pass on the knowledge.




This afternoon we bathed in a natural hot pool here at the caravan park. The water is a natural yellow and smells of sulfur and is very hot naturally. A very soothing way to end a hard days walking . Then nap time yah!!

What we learnt today – kiwis are related to emu’s, cassowaries, and have eggs that are the size of an emu egg – very large for such a small bird.



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