Māori Hangi, Thursday

While about 12 of us went to Hobbiton today, the rest of our coach group visited the Agrodome farm show. Late This afternoon we were all together again to go to Te Puia which is in the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley, to the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and the Pohutu Geyser, plus more than 500 natural geothermal wonders.

Had a lovely Maori lass take us on a tour of the Centre. Saw where young people are learning taditional ways of wood carving, stone carving and weaving.

Then went through the Kiwi house where they have a breeding couple plus another male which will soon be released back into the wild which is the ultimate aim to keep growing the Kiwi population. Then we were shoen the very active geysers and boiling mud pools. Really interesting but I can't fathom why people keep rebuilding here when there is so much geothetmal activity. Can only guess what house insurance costs are!

We then had a lovely buffet dinner, and were then taken to a traditional Maori meeting house (but without all the rules normally required for entry) where we were entertained by a Maori cultural group. The whole thing was really well done and they make no bones about it all bringing in the tourist dollar so that half the revenue is used fir scholarships for young people to come to the Centre and learn about their culture and traditions, with a view to taking it back to their villages, tribes and families. It was certainly a very busy day with all we did, but an excellent one!