We drove to Rotorua and could smell it before we even arrived there. "Yuk you farted!!" I said to Oresti, before learning that it was actually the sulphur in the air. Rotorua is a geothermal town and aswell as smelling the eggs, you can also see dozens of sulphur smoke filled areas. These are natural geothermal pools and geysers.....
We went to a real living Maori village there called Whakarewarewa, where 65 residents (23 families) all ancestors of the original Maori people, live. Their ancestors also lived there when this village was founded many many years ago. Whakarewarewa is actually the new name for the village, the original name is, 'TewhakareWarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao'. I'm not joking - and we had to say it before we went in!
The village inside was full of geothermal activity and beautiful colours as a result of many deposited minerals carried up from deep in the earths crust.
We went on a tour of the village given to us by one of the residents and we were shown how her ancestors use to live amongst these multiple smouldering water pools. There were several bubbling pools and one in particular known as the 'cooking pool' is used to cook meat, vegetables and almost any food imaginable to perfection. The locals put the food in cloth or other similar fabric, dip it in the water, and have learnt the exact time required for any food to cook perfectly. For example a soft boiled egg at 45 seconds, hard boiled 2 minutes etc. (the list was endless but only remember these two).
If they wanted to cook some greens they would swish them in the water backwards and forwards once and it would be ready. We ate corn on the cob cooked in this way and it was so tasty. The area may have smelt of eggs but the food did not!
We were shown the outdoor communal hot baths and how the naturally boiling hot water is channelled to let it cool and run into baths at a perfect temperature. Also the flooring adjacent is naturally warm and so underfloor heating is present too... All year round!
We lay down on the floor next to the baths to feel the warmth, it was so nice and cosy we could have layed there and fallen asleep.
Even today, they still use these facilities as it is free hot water but as it is a real living Maori village, they do have modern facilities like electricity, microwaves, ovens etc but they do still use these natural facilities daily maintaining their authenticity and culture. Within the village is an on site school, teaching only Maori up to the age of 5 before English is introduced. This means the children grow up learning and understanding their roots.
After our guided tour we had a 30 minute cultural dance where there was lots of singing, dancing and a great Huka performance. Lots of tongues were being stuck out and I must admit that the big eyes did freak me out a bit. Definitely a great but intimidating performance - similar to the NZ 'All blacks' rugby team where this dance is used before every match to intimidate the opponents, very much like they did for hundreds of years against rival tribes and more recently the Europeans.
We were then free to roam the village, had an authentic pie cooked in the geothermal oven, and saw bursting geysers, boiling mud pools and lots of sulphur steam...
Our visit to the village was magical and we left feeling that we gained a good understanding of what Maori life would have been like all those years ago and the unusually wonderful setup that they have now.
We also made a a dashing trip to Waitimo glow worm caves that allowed us passage to the incredible underground caves and rivers where the unique glow worms thrive.
Overall more amazing things seen and the north island certainly has it's fair share of incredible landscape and geology.
