We had a few things planned for our time in Rotarua, well known as New Zealand's cultural capital the first thing on the list was the Realm of Tane, an evening of theatre, dinner and introduction to the Maroi culture in a traditional Maori village setting. There was 6 of us that booked to go that night so en route to Rotarua we stopped at the Maori centre for a brief welcome session which included some tasty samples of Maori cuisine. Before this we'd also made a brief stop to check out the bubbling volcanic mud pools, shown here in the picture. Rotarua has masses of Geothermal activity so everywhere you go you can see steaming Geysers, mud pools and numerous spas and retreats offering all sorts of treatments. It also means the town is famous for it's 'rotten egg smell' hmmm lovely. This is mosst commonly put down the the Sulphur emanating from all the volcanic landmarks, however, I learnt a little something in my time there - Suplhur doesn't actually smell, the specific cause of the smell is Hydrogenated Sulphite Gas (or something along those lines. 'scuse spelling btw) this is apparently one of the most lethal types of gas you can get but as it's so dense it simply falls to the ground and we don't inhale it, therefore it doesn't harm us! Handy that!
Anyway, after all that we checked into the hostel - Hot Rocks and promptly did the only thing we were capable of..... went back to bed!! We'd made a new friend, Dan, who was on the bus with us that morning and he was sharing our dorm too - so when our other 'roomie' Jamie entered a couple of hours later when we'd all just about vaguely woken from our naps, he was somewhat amused to find us still in bed at that hour!! Anyway, the 2 boys became our partners in crime for the next few days and thanks to Cat's musings about how cool it would be to be Sabrina (the teenage witch) at some point in Queenstown i think, we managed to get onto the subject of Super powers and superhero's - as you do! - and the next thing we know, we had our theme for the next few days... Superhero names and powers were to be stated quick smart, no duplications allowed (the last time I found myself in this scenario saw the birth of Glimmerman way back at Ayers Rock!)
Anyway.... I'm not sure we actually ever completed the full set but we got as far as this:Dan became 'Action Dan' (or Sandwich Dan as we sometimes preferred) with Super strength as his power (as well as making ace sarnies!).
Jamie became 'T-man' with the power of err... making tea?! Sure there was another one but it escapes me now - Jamie, leave me a comment and remind me??
Aideen was Fanta Pants (cos she's a fiesty redhead and Jarrad the driver had taken to calling her that and we found it amusing) who's power was Flying! A power she got to demonstrate the following day too!
Becky was Belt woman (although she doesn't know cos i just decided that... for reasons that will amuse her no doubt!) and she never decided on a super power!
and me, well apparently I'm 'Gossip Girl' cos my chosen power was Invisibility, partly because how much goss would you be able to overhear when you're invisible!!
Anyway, that's all beside the point to everyone really isn't it but it was highly amusing to us... back to the day though... oh, just to explain though.. the Sabrina thing - came about when feeling tired and lazy and just wanting to be up and showered/have brekkie or a cuppa in your hand... it's self explanatory (and very lazy) but how cool would it be to be Sabrina at times like that, just conjure up a cuppa or chocolate, or in my case Chips!! ;-)
Anyway... sorry, I'll stop talking about crazy stuff now, got a bit carried away there didn't i!? Once we'd dragged ourselves out of bed, in normal human non-Sabrina style, Becky and I had a quick walk into town and indulged in some penny sweets like the children we are before heading back in time for the pick up for the Maori thing. Jamie had booked to come with us too so the 5 of us hopped on the bus with mouths watering at the thought of a proper feed for once!The evening was really good, it started with a display of Maori warriors, then a walk round the village with displays of some of the things a traditional Maori village would get up to day to day before heading into the theatre for a performance of some of the traditional tribal dances and the famous Huka. Then it was off to dinner, a gorgeous buffet with all sorts of Maori dishes, including sweet potatoes and stuffing (veggie) not to mention several dessert choices. Yum! We all stuffed ourselves stupid and then went to watch the demonstration of how the meal was cooked before hitting the gift shop.
Now, you may all be wondering why on earth there's a pic of a random Maori doll here - the reason it's on here is for Mum, Lotte and Map to see.... it was in the gift shop and the minute I saw it, i thought of Dad. I remember when we were little, whenever he went away anywhere he'd always bring Lotte and I back a doll, just like this one, from the country he'd been too. It's funny the things that spark your memory but it made me smile and think of him so I thought my lot would like to hear about it. i also gave into temptation and bought a Jade ring - I'm told the Jade is supposed to be given to you, you're not meant to buy it for yourself and as I lost the jade earrings i bought myself in Lake Maniphua I decided not to tempt fate so instead got Dan to buy it for me - not technically a present as i gave him the money but i haven't lost the ring yet so i think I got away with it! ;0)
Anyway, the evening lasted til about half 10 then we were all back on the bus, randomly singing a song from each of the native countries of the people on the bus (London's Burning was what the english among us opted for) before being dropped back at our hostels and saying goodbye in the traditional Maori way - by touching noses twice - before hopping off the bus. I also learnt that the Maori greeting is Kaiora and the formal greeting, when offering someone respect is Tenakque (I've no idea if that's splet right but that's how it sounds, only learnt that one a couple of days ago hence i can still remember it!) Once home, I popped to the Lava bar at the hostel for a quick drink with Dan and Jamie before it was time for my bed again. The hostel here was quite nice in that it didn't have bunkbeds so it felt a bit like we were all mates on holiday!! random i know but small things eh!! All in all it had been a good day, ok so the Maori thing is obviously geared at tourists but it's a good evening out and the food was delicious!
Monday was my last day with the girls until the weekend as they were heading off up to Auckland the next morning and i was sticking around for a few extra days. We started the day leisurely then at lunchtime hopped on the shuttle bus to try our hand at Zorbing.... which is basically when you put yourself in a big inflatable ball with some warm soapy water and get rolled down a hill. A simple idea and so so so much fun! Dan came too but as he'd already done it decided not to today so was camera man for us. The 3 of us went in to one ball together (the best way i think, wouldn't be as much fun on your own), 
they give you the sexy clothes you see us sporting in the pic here to wear as you obviously get soaked in there and then you comically have to do a running leap into the ball through a small hole - when Aid got to test out her Superhero flying powers!! - then they close up the ball, tap it on the side to signal it's time to go and you topple yourself over the edge and down the hill. There's not a chance in hell of remaining standing up and so you spent the next 20 seconds on your bum, rolling round and round in the warm soapy water as if in a washing machine and laughing your heads off... hilarious!! Its over way too quickly but I can't recommend it enough..... so much fun! If you ever get the chance make sure you do it!!
We had a bit of a wait for the next shuttle bus back to the hostel after that so went for a little wander to the Agrodome where they do all sorts of other activites; jetboating, bungy etc etc - we didn't partake in any of them, just whiled away the time there waiting for the bus then once back at the hostel wandered into town, had some dinner and got the cards out for a few games of Shithead, watched some TV, ate popcorn, drank tea and went to bed. We're all feeling the effects of the last few weeks on our wallets so the aim of the game is to save money, hence staying away from the bar.. it was fun though, Dan and Jamie are good lads and we all get on well and as they say it's all about who you're with not where you are so despite having to be disciplined and not go drinking we had fun regardless. x
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