Rotorua Round 2!

The day after we got back from our roadtrip, we headed out to Rotorua for the day.  Aunty Noenoe, Keao, Kamakana, Logan, and I all packed into Aunty Noenoe's car and drove there.  Our first stop was a Korean restaurant, which turned out to be quite a dissapointment.  The prices were pretty outrageous and the portions were... small.  The boys (Logan and Keao) put up a big fuss about how they were still hungry afterwards, so they headed to McDonald's and bought another meal.  Keao knows Rotorua pretty well; it's been his getaway spot while he's been here in NZ.  He has a few friends and family who live there and on this particular visit, we stayed with his friend, Wetini Mitai Ngatai, the owner and founder of Mitai Village in Rotorua (which is where we were going later that evening).  After eating our Korean snack, we headed to Wetini's house and met him and a few of his kids.  We got to talking about some of the places in Rotorua that we haven't been to, such as the Blue and Green lakes, so we decided to go for a drive.  Wetini gave us a personal tour of Rotorua and we got to see the pretty lakes that really lived up to their name.  Logan and Keao went for a swim in the blue lake, and from what I heard, it was freezing! :)  We got back to Wetini's house with just enough time to change our clothes and head out to Mitai.  This Maori cultural village features a cultural performance, walk, and an authentic hangi meal.  The price of a ticket to take part in this experience is $100, but we got to enjoy for .... free.  Mahalo Wetini!  It's a family affair-- Wetini's children all work at the village and are a part of the cultural performance, and Wetini is well... the founder.  They share their culture and a lot of the dances and songs are special and unique to Wetini's tribe.  It was amazing!  The performance was awesome and the set up of the stage was established in such a way to create a true feeling of authenticity.  The hangi was 'onooooooo! We had lamb, chicken, scallopped potatoes, kumara, and a whole bunch of other good food.  It tasted similar to food that is cooked in an imu, which isn't a surprise considering that they are the same thing.  After our food, we didn't want to go on a tour with the millions of other tourists who attended that night, so Te Po (Wetini's son) took us on a special tour.  We saw a few glowworms, and saw some of the animals who live at Paradise Springs, the zoo type park right next door to Mitai.  We got back to Wetini's house at about 10:00 and stayed up talking, playing music and games.  The next morning, on our way back to Hamilton, Keao showed us a few places in Rotorua that he likes to go to.  It was a great mini trip!

Roadtrippin' Part 4

Sunday:

• This marked the end of our trip.  We drove down to Auckland (a 5 hour drive South), and stopped at L&L.  Yes, the same L&L we all know and love.  It was located in South Auckland, which is known for it's intense population of Samoans and Tongans.  The L&L was nicely built, and probably the biggest one we've ever seen.  The menu was the same, but the prices weren't.  The plate lunches were all above $13, so Logan and I settled for a spam musubi.  It tasted great.  Reminded us of home.  (By the way, I've been making a list of all the foods I want to eat as soon as I get home.) 

• We then headed back to our friend's apartment, dropped off all our bags, and then returned our camper.  When we got back to her apt, we all went to get some gellatto.  It was a sunny day, so we ate our ice cream at the park.  That night we went to the Fiji, Laga Savea, Kiwini, and Siaosi concert at one of the bars in Auckland.  It was PACKED with Tongans and Samoans.  Logan's football coach (here in NZ) is their producer, so we got in free!  It definitely wasn't the best concert I've been to, but they definitely pleased their targetted audience.  75% of the songs they played were in Tongan or Samoan!

Roadtrippin' Part 3

Saturday:

• Our first stop of the morning was the Waitangi grounds.  We thought we'd get in with free admission (because we're sort of NZ residents), but no such luck.  We had to pay the $25 admission fee!!! We got to see the Treaty house where James Busby stayed during the time of British colonization in NZ.  There were panels on the walls explaining the different rooms and facts about the events that happened there many years ago.  

• Outside of the house was a whare runanga that had been erected 100 years after the signing of the Treaty.  It was beautifully made with intricate carvings and designs.  Outside the door of the house was a sign saying, "Please take off your shoes before entering", but it seemed Logan and I were the only ones to pay it any attention.

• There was also a whare waka, which housed two gigantic war canoes which were also very intricately carved.  
• We were finished with the Treaty grounds at about 11:00 and we weren't scheduled to go on our dolphin cruise until 1:30, so we decided to hang around town until then.  We forgot that it was Labour weekend, and therefore it was packed with tourists and locals alike.  There was a market happening in town as well as a concert and fair (which you had to pay to attend).  We walked up and down the street into all the little sovenier shops and such.  I got a really cute ring, which has pieces of shell, paua, kauri wood, and pounamu! Had some fish n chips for lunch before setting off for the cruise.

• The dolphin cruise departed at 1:30 and it was crowded with heaps of people.  Our first stop was Russell, a town with lots of history.  It used to be known for it's lack of law and was nicknamed "the hellhole of the Pacific".  We then continued on past many of the islands in the Bay of Islands and came across some dolphins who played near our boat for a while.  They jumped and flipped while everyone attempted to snap pictures.  We went through the famous Hole in the Rock, but honestly I don't understand what is so cool about it.  It's just... a hole in the rock.  Whatever though :) We stopped off at an island for an hour and we all were free to explore.  Logan and I stayed along the shore line collecting shells.

• We got back to Paihia at about 6:00 and were starving!  We had some seafood chowder at the restaurant near the dock and then headed back to the holiday park for the night.

Roadtrippin' Part 2

Wednesday:

• This was the day for our big hike.  We heard that the hike to the Pinnacles was well worth doing and so we decided we'd do it... plus, it was free and that's always good! :)  It was a six hour round trip hike up a mountain (and back down).  We walked over Nepalese bridges, rock staircases of never ending stairs, wooden stairs, ladders, climbed over rocks and trees... the list goes on.  Lets just say this was a true hike :)  The trail followed the old trail the gumdiggers used to use back in the 1920's when kauri gum was a heavy industry.  I can't imagine walking that everyday with cows and donkeys carrying cargo.  Amazing!  When we finally got to the top, the view was amazing! Well, after 3 hours of hiking straight up a mountain, it should have been spectacular... and it was.  We could see the rolling hills throughout the peninsula and out in the distance, we could see the ocean.  It was beautiful!  When we finally arrived back at the car 6 hours later, we were releaved and felt so accomplished.  It definitely wasn't something I'd do again in the near future, but it was really fun! Our legs definitely felt all those stairs the next morning though :( 

 Thursday:

• We got up early, stretched our legs out, and headed to Paihia, the top of the island.  It was a six hour drive and Logan was a trooper and drove the whole way :)  We stopped in Whangarei and hung out with some friends we met at uni who lived there.  They took us to Whangarei falls, a pretty high waterfall that emptied into a big pond, and we hung out at their house for a bit.  On the way up north, there was a toll tunnel that had just recently been installed.  In the states, normally there are toll collecters who collect the fee when you drive through.  However, at this toll, it was electronic.  We didn't quite understand what to do, so we drove on through without bothering to pay or anything.  Little did we know, that was actually a felany!  Good thing our friends told us where we had to pay... we drove to a collecting station.  We put in our license plate and it showed exactly how much we owed! Oh, the power of technology. We finally got up to Paihia in the early evening and we mosied around the town and stopped at a few beaches.  

Friday:

• We got up early and went on our first "paid" excursion of the trip... a bus tour to Cape Reinga and the 90 Mile Beach.  Without a 4 wheel drive car and experience driving in those conditions, it was impossible to drive onto the beach itself and experience all its worth, so the tour was a good idea.  The driver's name was Barry and he was the best! He was so knowledgeable and hilarious, he kept us entertained the entire time... and sometimes, the drive was pretty long between stops.  
• We stopped first at the kauri forest.  There were big trees that were thousands of years old, so they were massive!  There's a lot of history to them and it's believed that if you hug a kauri tree, all the nutrients from the tree transfer to you. So, we hugged the tree!

• Our next stop was the Ancient Kauri Kingdom, the last stop for bathroom and food :) We got some fish and chips and Logan eyed out a pounamu necklace that he fell in love with.  Good thing we'd return to this store on our way home, so he had time to decide if he really wanted it!
• Next, we were off to the Cape Reinga.  It was a far drive, but we made friends with these two teenage boys from London who were here on holiday.  We talked about a bunch of different things, and they were fascinated to hear we were from Hawaii.  As we approached the Cape, Barry broke out into a karanga and waiata welcoming us to this sacred place.  Because this is the tip top of the North Island, the Maori believe that the spirits of the dead come together at the tip of the Cape at a tree called Te Aroha and then they depart to Hawaiki.  This was also a special place because we were able to send postcards that are each postmarked by hand with their own special seal that was meant to bring good luck to the receiver.  Enjoy the good luck that comes with postcards we sent you from this place, and also keep them... they're a collectable!  Another fun thing we did here was plant a native tree.  We planted a pohatukawa, a native Christmas tree.  We were given the GPS coordinates, so we can google earth it's progress :) 

• Next stop was the sand dunes!!! This was AWESOME! Barry drove the bus right over a quicksand stream and onto the sand.  He was an experienced "sand-duner" and taught us the tips and tricks to have a great time.  We each grabbed a boogie board and climbed up a 36 meter dune.  It was pretty steep and it reminded our legs of the strenuous hike we'd only done a few days earlier.  I was really scared once I got to the top of the dune... it was reeeeal steep and I watched a few people eat it and it looked sore!  Logan went and he gave me the thumbs up at the bottom, so I went for it!  It was so fun!! The only problem was the walk back up... yikes.

• Our final stop for the day was the 90 Mile beach.  We drove onto the beach and got to play in the shorebreak for a bit.  The tide is really unpredictable and it's really easy to get swept out to sea, so we weren't allowed to go for a swim.  Logan and one of the English boys attempted to dig for clams underneath the sand, but weren't so successful.  It was great though.  The beach has been deemed a highway and has the speed limit of 100 km/h, which I thought was hilarious.  It's only 60 miles long, not 90 and it's a mystery as to why exactly it was given that name, but there are a few theories. We drove along about half of the beach and it was amazing how long it was.  Because of the rip tides, car rental companies have a clause in their contract that says "do not drive on the 90 mile beach."  We saw evidence of what happens if you ignore that clause.... there was a car buried beneath the sand and only the roof of the car barely layed exposed.

• We ended up stopping at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom on our way home and Logan bought a pounamu necklace.  It was really nice and after staring at himself in the mirror for half an hour and getting the opinion of nearly everyone in sight, he settled on the "perfect" one.

Roadtrippin'

We just got back from our second... and final roadtrip to two places on the North Island we've been dying to go to, the Coromandel Peninsula and the tip-top of the island: Paihia.  Classes ended on Friday, October 15 and we packed up and headed out on the following Monday. Here's how our week long trip went:

Monday:

• We caught the Nakedbus up to Auckland and stayed the night at our friend's (Dani from HI) apt. at the Auckland uni.

Tuesday:

• We got up early and lugged our bag to the Jucy site to pick up our camper.  We were "supposed" to be on our way towards Coromandel by 8:00, but because they didn't start prepping the van until that morning, we didn't leave until 9:00 am.  Logan spent the hour pacing back and forth and checking on their progress every 5 minutes :)
• Once we were out of the hustle and bustle of Auckland, we headed to Coromandel (about a 2 hour drive).  Our first stop was Hot Water Beach, a popular tourist beach known for its hot water. duh.  You can rent a spade (shovel) for $5 and dig a big hole in the sand and let the hot springs underneath fill the hole with steaming water.  It's MUCH to hot to dig with you bare hands or feet, so a shovel is essential.  The water was so hot that we had to pour buckets of water from the freezing ocean into our "pool".  It was really relaxing though & I guess that is one of there main objectives: to let people relax and be free.  Some people took this a little too literal and there were a bunch of "oldies" wearing skimpy speedos and one lady was topless!

• Our next stop was Cathedral Cove.  It was a half hour walk down to the actual cove area, but it was BEAUTIFUL! Logan didn't have slippers, so he played the tourist card reeeeal well and sported his tennis shoes with his towel draped over his shoulders :) Due to rock slides, the actual Cathedral Cove was blocked off due to safety precautions, but the bay surrounding the area was amazing.  The weather was sunny and warm and the water was crystal clear! I haven't seen a beach so clean and clear... but since then, we've come to find that MANY of the beaches here are that clean.  Amazing!  Logan went for a swim, but I stayed on the sand looking for shells. Typical! haha.  The water was freezing... of course, it is the Atlantic.

• Our next and final stop for the day was New Chums beach... we think.  I read up that New Chums is a really popular beach in Coromandel for whatever reason, but we couldn't find it.  Maybe we did, but there were no signs or anything labeling what the name of the beach was.  However, we found a map that led up to a beach and we pretended that it was the awesome New Chums.  There wasn't really anything spectacular about it, but there were some pretty cool shells we collected.  The funniest thing happened... I was joking around that I really wanted to find a starfish (a dead one of course) and take it home.  As we were walking back to the car along the shore, there was a tiny starfish that had washed up on to the beach.  It was the weirdest thing! There were no rocks or reef around, so I'm not sure how it ended up there... but it did!
  
  
  
  
  
  

Kapa Haka Hōʻike

On Wednesday night, Loganʻs kapa haka class had a showcase.  Along with the higher level kapa haka class and a nice little "Hawaiian segment," they each had a 20 minute-ish slot to perform what they had learned throughout the semester.  It was really cool!  Ricky (Leoʻs bf) and I arrived at the concert chamber an HOUR before it was going to start.  Talk about dedication.  The doors opened at 6:40 and by that time, people were everywhere waiting to get inside.  It was a pretty big event. 
The first part featured a contemporary haka class where the art of haka was mixed with contemporary styles of dancing.... it was pretty interesting!
Next, Loganʻs beginning kapa haka class performed. Check it out :)

E Te Atua
E Ko Te Tui
E Noho Tuheitia

They did so good!  Next, came the Taonga Pūoro section... treasured instruments.  Majority of it sounded like birds or the winds. Very soft, subtle sounds resembling nature. 

The Hawaiian section came next! Aunty Noenoe and Keao NeSmith each performed a hula.  Keao performed a kahiko number in which he chanted for himself while he danced.  Snapshots of lava and Pele were in the background.  Aunty Noenoe performed Manu ʻOʻo with the vocal help of Logan, Kara, Kamakana, and Keao.  It was beautiful!  Then, as their "hana hou" number, they all danced Kauluwehi o Ke Kai, which they learned an hour before performance time :)

We ended the night by all going to celebrate at the Hilly bar.  It was awesome! :)

Poukai

Yesterday, we attended at Poukai with Aunty Kim's family at one of the King's marae in Huntly.   Poukai is a ceremony that originated in 1884 by King Taawhiao and eventually spread to many other marae throughout the country.  It's purpose was for the King to spend time with the widows, widowers, and those who had recently lost a loved one to help aid in the grieving and healing process.  Traditionally, people brought kai (food) and a big feast occured.  However, in modern times, each person donates money that contributes to the cost of the food that the hosts prepare. 

We slept over at Aunty Kim's house on Thursday night and got an early start the next morning.  We arrived at the marae at about 9:00 am, and of course met with the other manuhiri (visitors).  Aunty Kim and her family were part of the tangata whenua (family) so they entered the marae first.  We greeted many of the mātua of the manuhiri who were all gathered waiting for the Poukai to commence.  Everyone was dressed in black (or dark colors) and many were adorned with pounamu jewelry.  Whaea Pare, Aunty Kim and Uncle Hotu's close friend who accompanied us for the Poukai, explained to us about the dress.  She said that you could tell where a person was from by the color of accessories they wore.  People from the Waikato region had scarves and blankets with a dark green plaid pattern, people from the Rotorua region had blue accessories, such as scarves, or hat adornments.  The ceremony started at about 10 am with a whakaeke, movement of visitors onto the marae.  A band of school children led the manuhiri into the marae playing a well known Maori hymn.


The ceremony begun with a pōwhiri.  Karakia were exchanged between the tangata whenua and the manuhiri.  After the karakia, we sat along one side of the marae in chairs and benches facing the family of the Kingi.  People from both sides gave their whaikōrero (speeches).  A member of the tangata whenua start off and then the speaking duty goes back and forth between the tangata whenua and the manuhiri speakers.  However, there were more manuhiri speakers than tangata whenua, but the last speaker of the pōwhiri needs to be from the tangata whenua.  So, all the speakers of the manuhiri spoke and then the last tangata whenua speaker gave his whaikōrero.  This was the longest part of the day.  All the speeches were delivered in Maori and the entire process was about 2.5 hours long.  I started to go cross-eyed.  It helped that Whaea Pare explained to us what the speakers were saying :)

After the whaikōrero, we participated in the hariru (greetings) with the tangata whenua.  All the manuhiri stood in a long line and we exchanged hongi or honi with each member of the tangata whenua.  We even got to hongi with the Maori King!!! :)

After the hariru, it was time for kai! Yippee!  The manuhiri entered first into the Whare Kai (eating house).  The tables were lined with Maori delicacies including raw mussels, boil up, roast, beef, potatos, and tuna (long finned eel).  I had wanted to try all these foods :)  Everything was pretty good, except the eel.  It looked like it was going to taste like dried aku, but definitely didn't.  It was squishy when you bit into it, and it tasted.... different.  Let's just say I could only handle one bite of it... barely.

After the kai, we went back outside and sat down in our usual spot.  During this time, people were free to give speeches about whatever they felt, which usually resulted in talking about tribal affairs.  It became very political.

Overall, it was a GREAT experience and I'm so happy we got to partake in it :)