The Sights and Smells of Rotorua

A smaller town in the the north island, Rotorua is the modern day center for much of Maori life and culture (I'm sorry, the a should have a macron above it, but I can't figure out how to put this in). The volcanic area has an abundance of geysers and geothermal pools that played a central role in tribal life and daily activity. Today, the area is still very actively volcanic, and many of the nature trails in the area are constructed to route visitors around bubbling pools or sulphur vents.

This brings me nicely to my next point. Rotorua very literally stinks.

I arrived just in time to fit into the free camping spot in the center of the town, a very exciting victory. Imagine my dismay when I hopped out of T-Rex and caught a nice big whiff of those steaming, bubbling pools just across the street. I felt ridiculous for not anticipating this. But the description of sulphur as a rotten-eggs smell is not an exaggeration. Initially I was like, oh, no big deal, I'm sure I'm just downwind. I'll go on a little walk around the lake.

No. No nature walks around the lake.

Of course the smell worsened further into the nature reserve. My spoiled little nose and lungs and their years of acclimatation to fresh alpine air, they couldn't take the heat. In my defense, it was quite hot this day and I was already unreasonably warm and sweating by the time I was being overstimulated by the sulphur smells. I like to think Haley and I probably would've had our unavoidable sister-travel-spat around this lake had we been traveling together. So, I high tailed my little butt off the trail and paid $20 to get into a volcanic hot springs just to douse myself in the cold plunge. It was worth every penny. The hot springs had some great views and a mixture of acidic and alkaline pools to soak in, some as hot as 106 degrees. I could finally brave these as the sun started to get a little lower and it turned out to be a really nice way to spend the afternoon.

The hot springs also had complimentary showers (huge for me these days), but this worked out great since I wanted to freshen up for my little evening Maori cultural experience.

The Maori people have roots in the Polynesian ancestry that settled much of the pacific islands. New Zealand was actually settled by Polynesian travelers around the same time as Hawai'i, about 5000 years ago. The museum in Auckland had offered some pretty cool glimpses into their culture, including exhibits on their sailing, their tools and traditions, and on the New Zealand Wars between the Maori and the British colonizers. The island actually celebrating Waitangi Day my first week in New Zealand, a holiday meant to commemorate the Waitangi treaty signing between Maori Chiefs and the British. I would be remiss to not mention that the English and Moari versions of this treaty were quite different, and there is significant conflict over this document today, as the Maori people wrestle to maintain their sovereignty. I was eager to attend a cultural experience to hopefully learn more about their history from Maori people themselves. And of course, for the food.

After about a fifteen minute bus ride from downtown, my group arrived at the edge of a Maori village where we would spend our evening. Our hosts opened with a traditional Maori welcome. We were asked to take the ceremony seriously, and to not laugh or imitate any of the warriors. Several warriors came down the pathways (seen in the picture I attached) to perform a ritual greeting, meant to ask us if we were arriving on peaceful terms. It was similar to a haka, but shorter, and involved a lot of intimidating weapon displays from the warriors. They were honestly quite frightening. We had to elect a member of the group to go in front of the warriors and accept their peace offering of a silver fern, and the poor guy's hands were definitely shaking.

Things lightened up considerably after this. We got to move through different learning stations about Maori traditions, including some of their games, the haka, and their spiritual beliefs.

Connectivity and kinship are governing principles in Maori life. Everything, the living and the dead, the alive and inanimate, is connected and alive. In the Maori belief, everything is infused with mauri, life force, and wairu, spirit. We are all related through our common descent from Ranguini, the Sky Father, and Papatunuku, the Earth Mother. I'm certain I won't be able to do their spirituality quite the justice is deserves here, but they are a rich and beautiful culture who live deeply into their connection with each other and the natural world.

Honestly I could've spent so much more time learning about their rituals and history.

Towards the end of our stations, our hosts performed several traditional songs and dances for us, as well as a haka. This was such a treat to watch! Historically, the haka was a pre-war ritual meant to intimidate the opposing army, and it's no wonder that the All Blacks performs a haka at the beginning of their rugby games as well. The women performed a haka as well, a dance to encourage their men as they leave for battle. It was very entertaining, and a lot of fun to be able to see.

As an added bonus, the following meal was the best meal I've had on my whole trip. A very five star experience for me.