We have just seen our first live Geysir – there are a lot of them around Rotorua.
The Geysir blows up several times a day for up to 45 minutes.

Within Mud Pools are 90-100 degree celsius hot. The steam comming through the mud let it look like jumping bubbles!

Around here are several 1000 of this (stinky) mud pools – from small ones like a plate up to stadium size!

Maori culture is still important for the Kiwis. We visit rebuild Maoiri Villages …

… and boats…

… experience a typical Maori show.

To learn even more about Maori culture, we visit another Maori village.

After arriving with the bus – where we learned a few words – a welcoming ceremony happened.

Then we were allowed to enter the village and it was taught in several stations several aspects of the culture (5-6 minutes each).
Dance, games with sticks, fight songs and a little bit about the settlement.

New Zealand was populated by Polynesian explorers as the last island in the pacific.
Before that, they were already colonizing the following islands (not complete): Easter Island, Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaii, Cook Island, …

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Then we were told and shown the traditional way of cooking in burrows.

The highlight was then a similar show, as we have already seen earlier – I have only on video, here is a picture of how the hall has looked.

The event concluded with a buffet-style dinner with traditional dishes (chicken, meat, potatoes, vegetables, …). The food wad traditional prepared and the taste was quite interesting – a little bit like smoked.

On the return trip on the bus we were forced to perform a song per nation. Kasia did very well!