Trip of a Lifetime

Vacations Aren't Supposed To Be Cold...

Hey people! I'm writing you from a warm, cozy internet cafe in Taupo, on the north island of NZ. It's rather cold outside, though I must admit, I've just gotten used to the warm weather. I've been wussified. Despite the cold weather, I am enjoying NZ immensely! It reminds me a lot of Scotland actually, with it's deep green rolling hills, barely comprehensible accents, and the fact that there are tenfold more sheep and cows in NZ than people. That, and it rains a lot. I'm on the Kiwi Experience bus, which is basically just a tour bus for young people, which stops at budget hostels all over the country. I left Auckland a few days ago, and got some great views of the city, which is quite nice. With a population of 1.4 million, it's the 5th biggest city in the world as far as area goes - which means people have their own space, and are pretty laid back, especially for a big city. http://www.geocities.com/spiker43943/P5240006.JPG Basically, I'm using the Kiwi bus to blitz NZ and see as much as I can before I go home. I'm running low on money though, which means I miss out on a lot of the activities - including drinking! At the end of the day, I'd rather do cool things like hike up mountains and do bone carvings and stuff than drink myself out of money, so I've decided to see a sober New Zealand - I'm sure my family would approve, especially given recent events (like my birthday...). Our first stop on the bus was to a spot called Hot Water Beach, which is named as such since there's... Hot water... At the beach. Not very inventive, but at least they can't be blamed for false advertising. Basically, you get to the beach, dig a hole, and freaking hot water comes up through the sand and burns you. Then, you realize that mixing sea water with the uber hot water would be a good idea, so you dig a hole and freeze your butt off for a bit, until the hot water permeates the sea water, and then it's absolutely fantastic. I suppose this would be the first natural hot tub in the world, and it's free, yay! http://www.geocities.com/spiker43943/P5250009.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43943/P5250011.JPG A very wonderful place. Next we went to Whitianga, where there was nothing to do but sit in the hot tub, which I was glad to do, and the next day we were off to Rotorua. Rotorua, translated from Maori into English, means "Evil Smelling Place". The name did not disappoint. Like Hot Water Beach, Rotorua sits atop a massive geothermal pocket, where magma heats water to boiling and it rises up through the crust to create cool things like steam baths, natural hot springs and geysers. http://www.geocities.com/spiker43943/P5260039.JPG It brings with it, however, the pungent smell of sulfur, which at times was pretty overwhelming. Rotorua also happens to be the Maori cultural capital of NZ, so we took the time to visit a Maori village to take in some of their culture. It all started with a bus driver who, upon learning that I was Canadian, added "EH!?" to the end of every single thing he said to me. He proclaimed that he was the best looking bus driver in the universe. I told him he was certainly the cheekiest. He drove us to the entrance, where our "chief" went out and met the Maori warrior that came out and offered us a token of peace. Of course, before he offered the peace token, he made all kinds of crazy sounds and gestures with his spear thingy. He was wearing a tiny grass skirt, and nothing else. It would have been funny, except he was much bigger than me, and he was pretty scary looking. The bus driver told us that if we laughed or smiled, the warrior would take this as an offence and an act of war. Basically, this means he would kick our asses with his big stick. No one really believed this but, then again, no one smiled either. Once invited into the village, we got to see a lot of their traditional games and songs - the Maori are excellent musicians, playing everything from bone flutes that you play from your nose, to acoustic guitars, and hitting three and four part harmonies. It was already an awesome show, when they announced that they would be doing one of their traditional war dances - the Haka. Basically, I came to this village to see the Haka. If you've ever watched the All Blacks (The New Zealand national rugby squad - top three in the world) play a game, you'll know what I'm talking about. Basically, they all drop their spears (which should be relieving), and all make very aggressive actions and sounds together. It may have been the coolest thing I have ever seen. They get so into it that their eyes roll back in their heads and they flick their tongues out at you... It was very, very scary. If I were to encounter Maori on a battlefield, and they did the Haka, I would definitely run like a little girl. As I said soon after the performance "Even my shit was scared". Don't believe me? Imagine 25 of these guys doing crazy gestures and slapping themselves in unison. Be afraid.... Be very afraid... http://www.geocities.com/spiker43944/P5260057.JPG Not one to bring home to mom, hey ladies? The second best thing I did in the village was the all you can eat buffet... WOW it was good. They cook their food in underground barbecue type pits, and it comes out with a nice smoky taste and a beautiful texture. I had starved myself all day in anticipation. I ate until I hurt. I slept very well that night :) From Rotorua, we went on to see many natural wonders, including waterfalls http://www.geocities.com/spiker43944/P5280066.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43944/P5280083.JPG I also got to do one of the coolest things I've ever even heard of - underground tubing. Basically, you get into a really thick wetsuit, which looks absolutely goofy, strap your helmet on, get in an inner tube and go tubing in an underground river. Once you get into the fridgid water, you are very happy to be wearing the goofy thick wetsuit. Once inside the caves, we all shut our lights off and looked up, surprised to see about 1000 tiny green lights glowing on the ceiling. They're called glow-worms, but they're not actually worms... They're maggots. The green glow actually comes from these long tails attached to the maggots, and it's fuelled by... Their poo. They eat insects that have been unfortunate enough to venture into the cave, who fly into the maggot tails for the same reason moths always buzz around lightbulbs - because insects are incredibly stupid. Even though the glow-worms are actually poo-fuelled maggots, they were still amazing to look at. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the caves, since my camera would have been obliterated in the process. Here's the group I've been traveling with for the past few days - I've made friends with everyone, and I've enjoyed their company a ton! http://www.geocities.com/spiker43944/P5270060.JPG They've certainly enjoyed my company as well - last night I got everyone to pitch in a few dollars and I cooked up a storm. I made some fettuccini alfredo from scratch, with mushrooms and chicken, and some mussels wrapped in bacon, fried with butter. It was a pretty awesome meal, and I will probably do it again before my trip is done - I actually made about 5 bucks, and I got to cook myself a great meal that just wouldn't have been economical without everyone else. Plus I got to keep the extra milk and pasta! SCORE! I can't wait to see the rest of New Zealand, and it'll be coming at me fast and furious as I travel to a new place almost every single day. I have to miss out on many of the adrenaline adventures, such as skydiving and bungie jumping, but I can do those things in Canada - I definitely can't go underground tubing in Canada. New Zealand has been even more enjoyable than Australia thus far, and I've great expectations for the remainder of my trip! Exactly four weeks until I'm back in Canada... Now that's a scary thought. I hope everyone is enjoying the warming weather as much as I'm enjoying the cold stuff :) Talk to you all soon! Spiker

posted by Spiker @ 9:23 pm