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!
No comments:
Post a Comment