Rain, rain and more rain...
I heard the rain all night and it was still raining in the morning. With this crappy weather, I decided to take advantage of my ticket to the Thermal Village from the previous day. Rather than walk and get soaked, I hopped on the local bus. I did wish for a sturdier umbrella - my umbrella got flipped inside out a few times - not good. I toured a bit on my own and took a few more pictures. I noticed all the statues around the village which are meant to scare off evil spirits. I think we all need a few of these around our houses! This time, I was able to watch the Maori show - dancing, singing, the stick game, poi "twirling" and their village's rendition of the HAKA. I sampled Hangi pie and sweet corn that was steamed in the Hangi...yum!
I forgot to note that on the previous day, our guide had us perform the traditional Maori greeting, the Hongi, not to be confused with the aforementioned Hangi. The Hongi is two presses of the nose with a handshake at the same time. Ok, this was awkward. American here...we have a certain comfort and expectation when it comes to personal space! Well, a gentleman from Germany and I were pressured into a Hongi greeting - again, awkward!
The rain let up for a bit so I took the bus back to town and decided to go for a run by Lake Rotoroa...that was, until I noticed that the sea gulls were stalking me. The birds at the lake are Aggressive with a capital A! They were circling me and squawking. I felt like a fool waving my hands in the air to scare them away. All I could envision was Melanie Daniels, the character in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, getting her eyes pecked out! No thank you - I ran straight back to the Hostel!
The crappy weather continued so, what better way to spend a rainy afternoon than heading to the Polynesian Spa! Hot mineral spring pools with lake views...ahhhh!!! In 1878, a catholic priest, Father Mahoney, discovered the alleviation of his arthritis after bathing in the thermal waters of hand-dug pools. The spa has been updated and is in the same spot where the original pools were dug. It was a very nice end to a crappy weather day and an unpleasant encounter with some not so friendly feathered fowl...
Oh yes, and I finally saw a sheep (ok, I had to look up the singular word of sheep - it's sheep)! What's up with the sheep? Where are they?
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