27DEC2019 – DAY 14: THE CULTURE

We left Taupo early in the morning as usual to head to a Kiwi Conservation Center just outside of Rotorua. There, we learned about the kiwi, New Zealand’s national bird, which is endangered, flightless, and nocturnal making them quite difficult to find outside captivity. The kiwi lays an egg that is the most disproportionate to it’s body size than any other bird. At the conservation center, we viewed the kiwi hatchery and learned about the protection and rehabilitation efforts performed there. After leaving the hatchery, we continued onward and made another stop to go Zorbing! That is, rolling downhill in an inflatable human sized hamster ball. I went down 3 times on 3 different tracks. First was the Sidewinder track which had a shallow slope but several zigzagging turns. On this first track, I just laid back and relaxed as the orb rolled back and forth down the hill. Next was the Big Air track. The name was a bit misleading as the orb never left the ground, but this track did start from the highest point on the hill resulting in picking up the most momentum before reaching the bottom. For this one, I tried standing up to see how long I could last before I fell down. The verdict: about 4 seconds… I ended up flopping all around inside the orb on my way down the hill but it was totally worth it! For the last track, simply named Mega, there were only 2 turns which meant there was probably something unusual about them. I tried standing up again for this track, but again, only lasted 4-5 seconds before my legs buckled under me as the orb wiggled and jiggled as it rolled along… Sure enough, on the way down, the orb rolled up along the side of the path at both turns, similar to what you may see in a Luge event as the cart rounds the corners. I felt like I got airborne for a brief moment at the second turn, but I cannot fully confirm this. Either way, Zorbing was definitely a memorable experience and I highly recommend it for anyone visiting Rotorua! As we hopped back on the bus, I began to feel my burns again, possibly as a result of my body bouncing and scraping around inside the orb. Hyped from the excitement of Zorbing, we made one final stop before getting to our hotel in Rotorua: Springfield. You can find a Springfield almost anywhere you go, but how many Springfield’s can boast a giant donut structure smack dab in the middle of the local park? And this wasn’t just a donut-shaped structure, but complete with frosting, sprinkles, and even a bite taken out of the top! Ironically, we ended up getting ice cream rather than donuts while we were in town. As we left Springfield, we came up to the hotel in Rotorua and were hit with a massive waft of sulfur emanating from Rotorua’s hot springs. Upon breathing in the sulfur, I was immediately hit with a sharp headache. After settling in to the hotel, I dug around my bag for the travel phone I picked up in Wellington and made a quick phone call to my dad back home. I mentioned briefly how surreal it was being in NZ, my hesitancy to go to the traditional Maori dinner later this night due to the discomfort of my burns and headache, and that I would share everything about my trip in detail when I returned. As I ended the call, my doubt faded and I had a newfound resolve to experience the most culturally inclusive night of the trip despite my bodily aches and pains. I joined up with the rest of the group and we made our way to the dinner tent. We listened to the Maori speaker welcome everyone to their feast. He asked what countries people were from and said “Hello” in everyone’s native language. He then proceeded to ask everyone how they say “Chocolate Cake” in their languages only informing afterwards that chocolate cake was the dessert for the night! After the introduction, we walked outside to watch our dinner finish cooking in an underground pit on top of heated rocks. While the food was removed from the pit, we walked a bit further and observed a Maori longboat performance before heading back to the tent to eat. I ended up eating lamb and rice, of which I cannot recall the last time, if ever, I had either. It felt good to try something new! After dinner, we walked over to an amphitheater to watch a Maori performance of traditional music, games, dances, and a Haka. The entire spectacle was heartwarming and entertaining. As we exited the amphitheater after the performance, the sky turned dark and we went for a walk through a traditional Maori village in the nearby woods. We got to see some glowworms shining bright yellow among the trees and in the bottom of a watering hole at the end of the path. As soon as I got back to the hotel after this amazing cultural event, I immediately crashed for the night. This was the first and only night on the trip when I was beyond exhausted from the day’s activities upon return to the hotel.