Day 1 Rotorua and the Maori hangi

Next we hopped back on the bus to go to Rotorua, the adventure capital of the north island and the cultural center of the Maori (the indigenous population of New Zealand). Rotorua is also on top of geothermal active zone. This means that it is the smelliest town in New Zealand due to sporadic steam vents escaping through the ground and releasing the typical sulfur smell.

Just after arriving I went to a Maori hangi and concert. This was a presentation of the Maori culture and traditional dances and songs. The Maori are the earliest known inhabitants of New Zealand and the came from other islands but the specific history is lost. So a lot of the Maori stories are centered around what might have happened in their unknown past. It was interesting and similar to the Polynesian presentations that I have seen in Hawaii but with different historical context.

The other part of the night was the hangi (a meal prepared by the traditional means of cooking under the ground) was excellent. The food is cooked over hot rocks that are initially heated to white hot placed in a hole and then covered with wet sacks. The meat is placed in first and the vegetables are at the top. The whole conconction is then buried for about 3 hours depending on the size. The food all had kind of a smoked flavor with the flavors of the different foods permeating the others. I was delicious especially after living on backpacking food for a couple of days. Overall it was a great night and an interesting insight into the Maori culture. I thought it was interesting how many of the island peoples can develop similar customs and traditions though living thousands of miles apart (both the Maori and the Hawaiians dance with Poi balls and cook traditional meals under the ground). I guess some of these were out of necessity and due to the materials available in the environment.