Today, I started off with the Hotel breakfast being a little brave with Bridget. Although, I knew that Vegemite is known for it's awful taste, and for some reason the people in Australia and New Zealand love it. I had to try it. Also, my project's on food, so I couldn't pass up my first opportunity. Both Bridget and I spread it on dry toast. All of the sudden, Alec gives us a weird look. Since Alec's our tour guide, we knew that wasn't a good sign. Basically, we learned after it was too late that you have to eat it with"a thin layer of Vegemite and loads of butter". Bridget and I decide to wipe off as much as we can to get a thin layer, but for me it was too late. We both counted to three and took a bite. It was one of the grossest things I've ever had in my entire life! Of coarse, Bridget didn't have a huge glob of it on like I did, so it wasn't so bad. Vegemite still didn't taste good, to me. During breakfast Reilly and I look out the window, and see this beautiful sunrise that we run up to and take pictures of through the window. Then, run outside a few minutes later with the teachers. "Who cares about the smell, this place is beautiful" is what I kept repeating in my head and aloud this morning looking at the sunrise off of the lake outside our hotel. The sunrise had this uncaptureable natural beauty. It was absolutely astounding. Although it was cold, I ran outside in just a t-shirt. This smell was definately worth it. We were all telling Ms. Titus how we finally understood how she lived in New Zealand, and how people can live in Rotorua. If I was able to wake up to a sunrise like that every morning. I wouldn't need much of anything else, and the sulfur smell wouldn't be very important. After staring at the lake, we were forced to leave the most astounding thing I've ever seen, our duck tour showed up. The duck tour took us to various lakes. We got to hear some Maori legends. We couldn't really see a lot because it was so foggy! Our duck tour dropped us off at Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao, or Whaka warewarewa for short. Whaka is a thermal village, you could touch the ground and feel the warm on your skin. There was steam coming out of everywhere, luckily I got used to the sulfur smell! They also had mud that supposedly had therapeutic powers, either way it was boiling! Also, they had public baths that were heated naturally, and left your skin feeling silky-soft. One of the coolest things there was a geyser which never stopped erupting.
After lunch we went to the Agrodome for their famous sheep shearing show. We were able to see a lot of cool tricks and even hold a baby sheep! In New Zealand the sheep to people ratio is like 14:1 so, it was really cool to see something that is such a major part of their culture. Then, we went to something called OGO. It's like a hamster wheel filled with hot water! I had so much fun doing that with Bridget even though it was super cold outside, and I was worried about the Hangi later that night. I decided to try everything here, and live in the moment. Also, watching everybody I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this one! It was well worth the doubts! We ended our night with a traditional Hangi. It started with the Maoris and "Chief" Steven to do their traditional introduction. After, they did the haka and "cheif" told the Maori's we came in peace, we ate wonderful food cooked in the geothermal. I tried pavlova which I had heard about before. There is no way to describe it, besides that it's absolutely wonderful. When we finished eating the Maori's performed traditional song and dance in their native tongues. Also, they called the girls on stage to do the pois. I was one of them! Swinging around a string with Cotton balls on either end in a rhythm is a lot harder than it looks. Also, the had some of the boys come up on stage to learn the haka. It was super fun! Before I knew it dinner was over!
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