Where I Wear My Moccasins Juggling the commitments of a student and dreams of a traveller.

A town I'm glad I visited once. Rotorua means 'two lakes' in te reo Maori and I took a short walk around one of the lake edges-not a pleasant smell. Rotorua is known for its geological activity and high population of Maori. It almost always smells of sulfur because of all the mud pools and geothermal structures. Other than hiking around town, I also went to a Maori cultural performance called Mitai, taking after the family name of its performers. I felt it was a little cheesy/touristy at times (mainly because of all the other people taking tons of pictures) but I still enjoyed myself. I waited 45 minutes with two Aussies to be picked up to go to the performance. That was a real bummer. The best part was the food! We had a traditional hangi (food cooked in the ground) and was it ever TASTY! The meat and potatoes were cooked in the traditional hangi style but we also had regular side dishes and salads as well. People from all over the world were on that tour. The night before I left, I saw a movie called "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" in a 12 seat theatre. I enjoyed the independent film with a box of Jaffas, a glass of white wine and in the company of people at least 40 years my senior. The documentary is quite unique much because the main character is so unique. A short synopsis would be a Midwest farmer triumphs over many years of hardships common to persons in the profession and battles his neighbors to retain his uncommon interests and activities....you should really see the movie if you're feeling like watching a weird one! I also had the most amazing lamb sandwich in Rotorua. I stopped at Istanblue Cafe for lunch and ordered the Turkish lamb. I had a choice of three sauces to put on it, I had hummus, tzaiki, and another one I can't remember the name of...but it was fantastic! If I ever went back to Rotorua, it would be to have another date with that sandwich.