Today started with a trip to Te Puia, a Maori culture attraction that is home to the arts and crafts of the Maori people and which encompasses a number of natural geysers, the 2 largest being Pohutu and the Prince of Wales both of which erupted whilst we were there. I purchased a beautiful piece of Maori art at Te Puia called Te Manaia (The Guardian Sprit). Maoris believe that every Maori has aguardian spirit whilst on earth which protects them from evil and the Te Manaia I purchased is a contemporary depiction of this spirit. It is to be my souvenir of my trip to New Zealand. This afternoon Saboohi and I met up with my dear friend Frances who recently emigrated to NZ and made the 5 hour drive over to Rotorua to see us. It was lovely to see how happy and settled she was in her new homeland and to catch up on all the news. As we will not be able to visit her hometown during this trip (New Plymouth) she brought us a beautiful illustrated book produced by a famous NZ photographer that portrays life in her home county. We spent a leisurely afternoon in the Bath House Museum in Rotorua and then this evening we attended a Maori Hangi at the hotel. This is a traditional Maori meal with dancing and singing. The funniest part of the evening was when the men of our group were invited onto the stage to perform a traditional Maori Haka –I haven’t laughed so much for a long while but they did a great job! It was a wonderful evening.
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