Aotearoa

We find it difficult to pronounce the names of most of the places here as they are Maori. For example, Aotearoa ia the Maori name for New Zealand. Everywhere we go the Maori are present with cultural shows, art, restaurants and hotels, like the one we stayed at last night. They have wisely capitalized on the tourism trade, using their land and sharing their arts and crafts. We started off the day in Rotorua having a large breakfast. Keith had french toast and I had a huge bowl of cinnamon oatmeal with dates on top. It was more than I could eat. We then went to Te Puia, a geo thermal area and Maori craft centre. We watched men carve totem like poles and statues and women take palm leaves and make them into grass skirts and weavings. In the crafts, singing and dancing we see similarities to the other Polynesian Islands like Hawaii.

The highlight of the visit today were the mud flats and geysers. Aoretera is a land of diverse landscapes.

It is the end of a day that involved some sightseeing and lots more driving. The Kiwis think we're crazy for driving what they think is far but to us is a short distance, albeit more hills and valleys and windy roads than we are used to on the prairie. We are at a B&B with very friendly hosts, he a wine connoisseur from Vancouver. After a roadside stop for Hokey Pokey (vanilla with caramel crunch) and Feijoa (guava) ice cream around 4 pm we had a light dinner from the supermarket that included green shell mussels (the photo is actually oysters we had in the Bay of Islands earlier).