Kiwi's anyone?

Sunday July 4th
Let’s start this post with food again; Fresh fruit here is AMAZING! I ate my first NZ kiwi for breakfast, and let’s just say that it might just become the main staple of my diet while in this country. :D Day two of vegemite was much better than day one! Definitely still an acquired taste though.

Our adventure starts at the geothermal wonderland near Rotorua. We were told we would get to watch a geyser erupt at 10:15 this morning, that it magically erupted every morning at the exact same time. Most of us were thinking along the same lines as old faithful. But no, not this geyser! Lady Nox (as the geyser is fondly referred to as) is only about 100 years old. She came to be a geyser when some convicts who were working in the bush decided to wash their dishes in a hot spring. The soap they were using reacted with the chemicals in the hot spring causing it to violently erupt-much to the surprise of the dish washers! Now a days the park officials don’t use soap, but rather a chemical that induces the eruption without leaving residue on the surrounding environment. Who knew there are such a thing as a artificial geysers? The rest of the park was completely Au natural; full of beautiful hot springs, deep caverns, and the stink of sulfur.


Despite the chilly weather, our next stop was the thing I was most looking forward too: Zorbing! In case you didn’t know; zorbing is where you are rolled down a hill in a giant plastic ball! The balls are actually two balls, one inside the other. You are tossed in to the middle one along with a bunch of hot water and 2-3 other people and shoved off the top of the hill. It’s a bit like I imagine being inside a washing machine would be like. So much fun; there’s water wooshing everywhere, and you’re just sliding around, having a magnificent time; laughing, screaming, smiling, the entire way down the hill! It’s a task that should be on(and checked off of) EVERYONE’S bucket list!

Finally we ended the day by visiting a village set up like a traditional Maori village would be. We got to watch them dance a Haka, and we were able to eat some of the traditional foods. Lamb, Fish, chicken, carrots, potatoes, their sweet potato(Not nearly as sweet as ours but still yummy!) mussels, bread, and a type of pudding/custard with kiwis for dessert. All of it was baked in the earth using geothermal cooking. Mmmm, Delicious!

All the way back to the hotel our Maori driver kept us singing, joking and driving illegally. We finished off the night with a round of The Star Spangled Banner- after all it is the 4th of July, even if we’re in the wrong country.