Glowworms to 'Wonderful' Aromas, NZ

Fri 13 Feb, 2009 - Auckland to Rotorua
The ride out of town took us up to Mt Eden, one of Auckland’s volcanoes with great views across the city. Could also see from there One Tree Hill which atone point had a tree, now has a statue in commemoration of the signing of the Waitangi Treaty. Then leaving toward the lush landscape south. Drove through the Bombay Hills and Waikato region before stopping at Waitomo for 3 hours where we went through 2 caves. The first was the glow worm caves - the main attraction and over 30 million years old. The limestone caves were huge caverns which went down toward an internal river. We got into a boat in the dark and in silence and made our way along the river. Suddenly above us a glow intensified and there were thousands of glow worms scattered across the cave roof. Have never seen so many little green dots of light. The next cave was just a limestone cave - no glow worms as no river ran through this one. But the formations within it were certainly more spectacular than the first.

We arrived into Rotorua at 5.30pm where we were dropped off at the Crash Palace. Had a little time to get ready and then made our way down the street to Tukiki Cultural Centre who ran a night Maori Hangi and Concert. From the minute we got on the bus the show started. The driver kept us entertained throughout the ride and upon arrival we had our own ‘chief’ who was then our leader for the night. We entered to compound and the Maori’s performed a traditional ritual which was set to find out whether you were friend or foe - by doing nothing it meant you were there on friendly terms. Demonstrations of appreciation in the western sense, ie clapping, smiling, etc, can be seen as signs of aggression. With the ceremonial part over and us all being invited into their ‘home’ we walked into an area of many little huts raised off the ground. Within each a performer was undertaking a different daily activity or task. After sometime to look around we were taken to a building with racked seating where we saw a brief concert. After the concert it was off for the Hangi feast. An all you can eat buffet which Steven would have loved! The whole experience was sensational. It is certainly a must do if you come to Rotorua.