Day 9 - Franz Josef and Fox Glacier

We depart Christchurch and take a bus tour through the devastation on our way out of the city.  Collapsed building, churches, yellow tape, you name it we saw it.  A lot of Christchurch's buildings were made of brick and combine that with liquid faction and you had a recipe for disaster.

We head into the wide open country of New Zealand.  It's beautiful, dramatic, lush and green.  We pass through Arthur's pass on our way to the glaciers.  At Arthur's pass we stop at this little cafe and get out to grab lunch.  We are told there is a very aggressive bird here known as a Kea and we are not to feed it anything.  These Keas are huge I would say the size of a giant parrot and they are aggressive.  I witnessed a woman eating her sandwich and the Kea coming right up to her and ripping the sandwich right out of her hand.  I keep two hands on my food and watch the entertainment.

Lord Of The Rings Was Filmed Here:

Playing with my camera Aperature:

Looks like a postcard but that's the way NZ is:

Damn Kea watching me like a Hawk!

Several hours later and we arrive at our accommodations.  This place is backpackers paradise.  Half of it a hotel the other half a hostile.  The bar known as monsoon is a bustling place with people from all over the world.  English, French, Dutch, German, Aussie, people were representing.  We have a great dinner and then Bill and I decide to represent America in a friendly double's match of pool with two guys from England.  These guys had been on the table for quite some time so we knew we had a challenge.  Needless to say we brought our "A Game" and won.  Now the table was ours!  That is for a quick 10 more minutes as our game went down hill and we couldn't find the pocket (more like Bill couldn't find the pocket).  What I noticed however is how friendly the competition is.  Even though we were trying to win, it seemed more important to our challengers that they get to know us rather then try to beat us.  Very different from the states, but I like it.
We make an early night and head to bed.  We have an early morning date with a glacier that is still very much in jeopardy with the weather.  Before I can get to the next morning I must mention that Little Jake was Little Jake and again he decided to wake me up with turning the lights on.  This time Monsoon bar got the best of him and he was drunk.  I yelled Jake the lights!  His response, "Oh sorry you sleeping!" Yes Jake see you in the morning.
We get up and the weather has cleared.  YAY!  We are about to embark on the Fox Helihike which involves taking a helicopter that will drop you off on top of the glacier half way up.  I can hardly contain my excitement, this will be my first helicopter flight.  We arrive get signed up and head to the helipad where three red helicopters await me and my tour mates arrival.  They give us special boots for sticking to the ice that we put on along with jackets if we want them.  

I'm Excited This Heilcopter is Beautiful:

Okay one more Close-up!

We board the helicopter and we take off for a 10 minute flight up the mountain.  The views are ridiculous!  This glacier is huge with contrasting blue and white colored ice.  The glacier runs up a canyon several thousand feet with majestic waterfalls on both sides.  I'm filiming the whole way and the pilot does this crazy manuever where he does a 180 over the waterfall and he get an awesome view.  Finally we go in to land and we see several other people that look like ants from above squatting down so that the helicopter wind won't spray them with ice.  We get out, I'M ON A FREAKING GLACIER!  AMAZING!

Little Jake gets front row cause he is small:

Away he goes!

Eureka I'm on a freaking Glacier!

My new advertising campaign for northface!

Amazing Views!

The Roomates and Bill!

We watch the helicopter leave and now it's just us and this giant glacier.  Our guide takes us on this tour trek thru ice, glacier canyons, glacier pitfalls that go several miles down.  It's sunny and the colors are incredible.  The crampons on our boots are sticking so we trek on.  We come to this glacier cave and walk through it take a few photos.    We see waterfalls and glacier holes decending into an abyss.  If you've never seen a glacier before I strongly recommend you check one out.  

Don't Leave Us!

Waterfalls coming off of the Glacier:

Mountain Man Bill and Krista!

The Crew!

There's no Abominable Snow Man in here!

It's only Bill and Krista

We came we saw we conquered!

We head back to the pickup the helicopter picks us up and we make the flight back safely.  When I get out of the helicopter I stop a minute to reflect what I had just done and seen.  On a day like this it's hard not to believe that God didnt have a hand in this.  I will never forget this trek and sharing it with my tour mates.  It's on to Queenstown the Adventure capital of New Zealand. Go Big or Go Home!

Bye Glacier!

Day 8 Christchurch and Little Jake

We awake the next morning to rain again in Wellington.  Damn it!  I'm ready to get out of here!  My tan is fading and I'm starting to forget it's summer.  I'm starting to question the Wellington theme song Bridget played for us yesterday where the lyrics go something like "You can't beat Wellington on a good day, and you can't beat Wellington on a bad day."  Well I respectfully disagree; ANYTHING can beat Wellington on a bad day.  

We pack up head down to the bus and board with four new tour mates who are joining us on the South Island tour.  I will get to them later.  So it's goodbye to the North Island - a land of volcanoes, big cities and cold weather - and hello to the South - a land of adventure sports (bungy, skydiving, etc.), glaciers, large mountains, warmer weather, and more rural towns.  Yes I am looking forward to the change of pace.  Don't get me wrong, I like the North but I'm really excited about the South.

Our bus takes us to the Wellington Ferry Terminal where we board a 3 hour ferry crossing to Picton on the South Island.  I'm thinking we will take a little Ferry similar to what you see when you go to Catalina Island.  But no, this thing was massive; I felt like we were taking the love boat across the channel.  On the boat ride I slept but also spent a little time getting to know the new tour mates.  

YAY! I'm now not the only American.  Bill and Krista, a married couple from Wisconsin, join us.  I use my time wisely with Bill to get caught up on sports, talk a little about my 6 month trip and brief them on the North Island stuff we just completed.  They are good midwestern folk, polite, courteous and excited about the trip.  Their love for the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers comes out immediately.  I remind Bill that Aaron Rogers mvp quarterback of the Packers played for Cal.  Judging from my conversation with Bill it's becoming quite obvious that Aaron Rogers is the 2nd coming of Jesus to the city of Green Bay.  Love it!
The Ferry finally gets to Picton, we off-board and await our new bus which we will use for the South Island.  The new bus is bigger and nicer than our northern one and more importantly the sun is out in the South.  I'm loving the South already.

We hit the road and our first stop is this colony of seals along the Southwestern coast.  It's unbelievable out and we pull up to adult and baby seals, laying out, playing on the rocks, and taking in the sun.  Great stop!  

It's another couple of hours on the bus before we make a brief 45min stop in Kaikoura a cute little beach town.  We quickly grab lunch take a few photos and then head off.  But importantly Kaikoura will be remembered as the place where I first met my new roommate whom I call "Little Jake".

Little Jake was 1 of the other 2 new people who joined us.  Little Jake is from China originally but is currently living in Auckland.  He is a student there pursuing a bachelor's degree in business.  First impressions of Little Jake are he is a cross between Speedy Gonzalez and the Energizer Bunny.  The guy does not stop, Little Jake was so excited about the trip that when we boarded the bus to leave Kaikoura he could not sit still for the next 2 hours.  Everything excited him; a random tree, a goat in the field, an insect hitting the window, a view of a mountain peak, Little Jake was all over it, snapping away and cheering excitedly.  All we ever heard was, "Ah beautiful things, beautiful!".  Little Jake's enthusiasm is infectious but Brad and I realize if we are going to get any sleep tonight we are going to have to get Little Jake a little drunk by 10pm or risk being kept up by Little Jake's enthusiasm when he hears a cricket outside for the first time.

We arrive in Christchurch and are told the story about the 2 devastating earthquakes that completely destroyed the Central Business District (CBD) of Christchurch.  The first earthquake struck in 2010 was 7.1 magnitude on the richter scale and did not sustain any deaths.  The second earthquake in 2011 was a smaller 6.3 on the richter but was a lot more devastating as it was closer to the surface.  This second quake killed 181 people and destroyed the CBD as the ground there was not solid and liquid faction occurred severely damaging and collapsing most buildings.  Reminds me of the Marina District in San Francisco during the 89 quake.  That's why I refuse to live in the Marina to this day.  Im on solid bedrock in Pacific Heights.  The CBD is now a red zone and is cordoned off.  Almost all buildings are being demolished.  The CBD is being completely rebuilt and even our hotel only has 60 rooms out of 100+ available because one of the hotel buildings was severely damaged and uninhabitable.  Tomorrow we tour the red zone.

Now back to the hotel and Little Jake.  We get to the room and now it's me, Brad, and Little Jake in a room with four beds.  I grab the bed closest to the bathroom and immediately start unpacking.  As I am unpacking I notice this presence right behind my right shoulder.  It's Little Jake and he says, "We bungy!"  Yeah mate maybe in a couple of days.  He goes onto say, "We eat now?"  No Jake we are still unpacking and dinner is later.  Have a seat bro and relax a little.  Little Jake looks confused he insists on standing over me and watching me unpack. I oblige hoping Brad might be doing something more interesting and Little Jake might turn his attention to Brad.  Oh I forgot to mention Little Jake's english is not perfect and I still question whether he understands what I am really saying.  But nevertheless he is entertaining.  We put on some tunes and I hop in the shower.  Jake knocks on the door to interrupt my shower with two words "Good Music!".  Thanks Jake, now close the door behind you.

We head to the restaurant/brewery to start drinking early with mine and Brad's plan in full effect.  Operation get Little Jake drunk by 10pm is underway.  We immediately order three beers and head out to the patio.  Out on the deck we meet these two professional cricket players who end up hanging out with all of us the rest of the night.  I learn more about cricket and get recommendations on South Africa.  Little Jake meanwhile is in and out of different bar stools with the same three words, "Ah good beer".  It reminds me of that game "Whack a mole" where the moles pop up out of the holes and you whack them with a stick for points.  We continue drinking and Little Jake continues playing musical chairs.  Several beers later and Little Jake starts yelling, "I buy, I buy!"  No Jake we got you covered just enjoy the sun.  As the hours pass Jake's face gets redder and redder.  Will our operation be a success?

We now sit down to dinner and eat a big portioned meal similar to what you get at the Cheesecake Factory.  I head back to the bar area only to discover that now we have skipped past the beer and Little Jake is now taking shots.  Could we be reincarnating a famous exchange student character from 16 candles?  It's now 11pm and we decide to head to the Casino, Little Jake is blitzed and shouting, "Good time, good time!"  We tell Jake we're headed to our hotel room to change for the casino and he quickly follows behind.  We get to the room and Little Jake makes a b-line for the bathroom.  Brad leaves the room to arrange transportation.  I stay behind waiting for Little Jake.  A few minutes later Jake emerges from the room rubbing his stomach.  I ask Jake you okay he responds, "Ah stomach not so good, I pooed!"  It takes me everything to not lose it when Little Jake admits to me he had a number 2 poo!  I have to hand it to him, he continues to rally and joins us on our trip to the casino.

We get to the Casino and start gambling.  I lose 20 bucks in roulette.  Little Jake goes to play black jack.  10 minutes later he practically runs me over shouting, "I won 5 dollar!" I say how many hands did you play?  He says, "1 hand!"  I leave early, Im tired and Little Jake seems drunk enough that he will sleep through the night. I cab it back to the hotel and pass out.

At about 2am in the morning I am startled by the lights.  Little Jake has come home and he turns all the lights on in the room and then asks, "You sleep well?" I respond still sleeping Jake and he says "Oh you sleep!"  He hops into bed and passes out.  Thank god I can now catch some Zs.  Did our plan work?

It's now 6am and again I am startled by all the lights being turned on, Little Jake is standing over my bed, staring at me with a big smile on his face.  He says "You come get coffee."  I said mate it's 6am in the flipping morning and the bus doesn't leave till 8:45am, I don't drink coffee.  He says, "Come now breakfast."  Mate breakfast does not start until 7:30am and I don't eat breakfast, I sleep.  Thank god little Jake falls back asleep.  45 minutes later he is up and bouncing around.  Mission failed miserably must try a new tactic tomorrow night!!!  

Days 6 and 7 Wellington

NOTE:
Sorry it was taken me so long to blog.  This one has been written for days but unfortunately I have had difficulty getting the pictures.  Two unfortunate events have occured that are really bumming me out.  Number 1 my camera case with a full memory card inside it went missing at the lodge in Lake Ohau.  This had about 80% of my photos from the trip on it.  Number 2 my other memory card for my digital SLR camera got corrupted when I was trying to download pictures.  This had another 10% of my NZ photos.  So I am stuck with only a handful.  So the next blog posts may have more video then pictures.  I apologize believe me I am more bummed about this then anyone else.  Mom I have prayed to Saint Anthony every night.  I waiting for him to come through.  I NEED THAT MEMORY CARD FROM LAKE OHAU!!!!!!  Back to the blog:

Early morning bus call and were off again this time destined for Wellington the capital of New Zealand, and the place where many scenes from all three Lord of the Rings movies were made.  It's also the place where all the studio and digital effects were done.  

Before I get to all the Wellington stuff, I failed to mention a couple stops we made on Day 5.  The first place was called Craters of The Moon and is another geothermal hot spot that resembles the moon as the hot mud pools and steam holes look like a lunar landscape.  We trek through a 3km loop and stop and take pictures.  The pathway we're on believe or not is made out of wood and raised because the ground is so hot in some places it would burn holes in our shoes.  You could definitely feel the heat in your feet and it reminded me of heated marble floors at hotels like the Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton albeit these floors were outside.

The other stop from Day 5 was Huka Falls which is a raging gauntlet of water that then flows over the falls.  Many people are stopped on the bridge but our tour guide immediately takes us beyond the bridge for better viewing spot and less people.  Bridget knows her stuff!  

Now back to Day 6 and on our way into Wellington we stop off at the Dry Creek Quarry this is where they filmed Helm's Deep from the Lord of The Rings movie.  Can't really see much from the road so we quickly move on.  As we are getting into Wellington the weather is starting to improve and Bridget is getting more and more excited as she is from Wellington.  The bus mic keeps going off with comments, "This is where my mum works, this is my favorite bar, etc."  Her enthusiasm is infectious so we all get excited.

Pumba starts to take the bus up into the hills where we will stop and see Wellington from a distance in all of it's glory.  As we are going he points out these metal tracks in the hills.  We are told that's what all the rich people use to hall up their groceries, furniture, etc. as there are no streets above to access their mansions from.  This scenery reminds me a lot of Sausalito except without streets.  The houses in the hills are amazing at several million dollars a pop.  Yep Wellington is the place to be.  

We get up to the top the mountain to a lookout point and get an amazing 360 degree view of our surroundings.  It is mentioned as we get to the lookout that the very first scenes of Lord of The Rings were filmed in the hills below the lookout.  Apparently the crew had to keep filming top secret as all the students from Uni (Aussie term for College) would sneak up on the hill I'm sure to catch a glimpse of Orlando Bloom.  

We check into our hotel and get ready for dinner at a restaurant/bar called The Blend.  Everyone dresses up and we head off.  We sit down and are told our first round of drinks will be comped.  Of course I go straight to ordering a Margarita and I'm disappointed when they say they cannot make it.  DOES ANYONE IN NEW ZEALAND know how to make a Margarita I'm dying here!  

Dinner is ok and the place immediately goes into full on music and dancing mode.  We are encouraged to dance on the couches and tables.  Everyone obliges and then the games begin.  The guys are told to pair up with the females and each girl is given a wrapped piece of bubblicious gum.  The objective of the game is for the girl to move the gum from the bottom of our right leg to bottom of our left leg using the inside of our pants.  Once it reaches the bottom of our left leg they then must take the gum chew it and blow a bubble to pop it.  First to pop it wins the game.  Unfortunately that night I was wearing tight jeans making mine and my partner Katelin's chances of winning darn near impossible.  We of course lose and my thoughts immediately go to am I on Spring Break again?

After dinner and games we bar hop in Wellington.  The streets are packed with people.  Every bar and club has tons of people inside and outside waiting to get in.  Bridget's connections get us straight through any line.  I must have lost 5 lbs dancing that night.

The next day we are awoken to the noise of a down pour.  Yep our second day in Wellington was nothing but rain, rain, and more rain.  Reminds me of Seattle haha!  It rained and it was a cold 60 degrees.  COME ON!  It's supposed to be summer.  With the crappy weather I could really only do 2 things, 1. Test out my new Northface rain gear (thanks Sean), and 2. Go to a museum.

So I threw on all my equipment and headed off for Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum.  The gear worked perfectly as I was bone dry when I arrived.  I could not say the same for some of my ill prepared tour mates.  The museum is huge definitely will be here a couple of hours.  It is here that I learn a couple of valuable things about New Zealand.  1.  New Zealand is a land of volcanoes and mountains it was part of Australia when it broke off many millions of years ago.  Perhaps that's why kiwis and Aussies love each of other so much.  Yeah right!  2. New Zealand is a fairly new country in terms of it's modern governmental establishment.  The Maori tribe had been in New Zealand a lot longer.  But in terms of when New Zealand formed it's own constitution and became a sovereign nation under the protection of the Queen of England, it really wasn't until the treaty was signed by the Maori tribal chiefs in 1840.  England had to convince the chiefs they would maintain rights to their land with the agreement they would swear loyalty to the Queen.  After lots of negotiation it finally happened and the treaty was sent all over New Zealand for the chiefs' signatures.

The rare and elusive Giant Squid I believe the only one captured and displayed:

 
The rest of the day and evening was spent catching up on blogs, emails, etc. as the weather made doing anything not really worth it.  Give me some sun!

 

New Zealand Days 3-5

Day 3 - Tour Begins Auckland to Waitomo

Our tour group is scheduled to meet at 11am at the Hotel Mercure in Auckland.  I'm upstairs frantically packing my bags for the bus.  I'm anxious, nervous and excited to meet the 50 plus people who will become my friends and travel buddies over the next 2 and half weeks.  I'm in the elevator heading down watching the floors countdown.  The elevator reaches the bottom floor, doors open, and chaos begins.  It's loud; lots of people, lots of bags, long lines for checking out of the hotel.  This is my first glimpse of my group.  A couple of observations come to mind immediately.  Lots of women and very few blokes.  Did I sign up for an all female tour?  Not that I am complaining. 

Immediately this Aussie guy bumps into me and says, "Hey mate you going on this tour?"  Yes I respond.  "Wow man you are one lucky bloke there's 30 girls on your tour and only 9 guys.  Wish I could sign-up on your tour."  I guess his tour had finished and he was not happy with his ratios.  My thought this is going to be one interesting trip and I'm not complaining.  

Here's the actual breakdown of our tour group:

49 Total people

12 guys

37 girls

80% Australian

20% (Russia, Sweden, England, Austria, Netherlands)

and 1 American (Yep that's me the only American)

So 37 girls, 80% of which are Australian. Damn it!

Our Tour Guide, Bridget, is this spunky, energetic, blonde from Wellington, New Zealand.  I kid you not this woman can talk.  She talked to us for 2 hours straight from the time we left Auckland till we arrived in Waitomo and still had energy.  I want what she is having!

Our Bus Driver Pumba also a kiwi (nicknamed because he has a bit of a gut but according to the women, is lovable and cuddly) runs through the bus rules.  He is a guy very knowledgable about NZ and has a love for the traditions and cultures.  Also he loves in-n-out which makes me a big fan of him already.  

Yep I lucked out our Tour managers rock!  

I'm back in line waiting to check out when I run into this older gentlemen; shaved head, built solid and definitely Australian.  I ask him if he is on our tour and he responds "Yes, and I think I am the oldest one."  I said how old and he responds "32."  I said mate I don't think you're the oldest one, I'm older to which he responds, "Ah no way mate!"  Turns out Brad is from Melbourne, Australia and builds tall buildings and works with steele and big machinery.  Definitely a man's man and we bond instantly as he loves America and is a big Laker fan.  Yes we both agree Kobe is the best player in the NBA.  I like this guy already.

Turns out our tour group is relatively young.  Age ranges 18-35 with my guess that the average age is somewhere around 22-23.  The group is young but energetic and most importantly polite and respectful.  No douche bags believe it or not.  I'm thankful!

We board the bus and head off to Waitomo a town famous for their glow worm caves and a bar owner named Curly who I will explain later in the blog.  Our first excursion black water rafting in glow worm caves.  We arrive at the place and get geared up in full wet suits and helmet flashlights.  Then we head off to the caves.  Once we arrive we hike down into these deep crevices and begin our cave tour.

Black water rafting involves floating on an inner tube in a dark cave which is illuminated by green neon dots which are glow worms.  The glow worms are nothing more than maggots that use their light on their ass to attract mosquitos prey.  The mosquito, attracted by the light gets caught up in their mucous and they reel in their mucous like a spider and slowly devour their mosquito prey.  Digesting the prey helps give them their glow to attract more prey.  The glow worms eventually transform into mosquitos themselves only to die a slow death themselves.  A violent circle of life that plays out beautifully in the epitch black dark of these caves.  A sure highlight of the trip; I loved this tour.

We then headed back to the hotel to have dinner and then have drinks at Curly's bar; the only bar in the town of Waitomo.  Curly the owner of Curly's bar is this crazy old man who reminds me of Wally from Crocodile Dundee.  Curly takes a liking to a couple of girls from Brisbane, Australia on our tour and proceeds to comp them free drinks the rest of the night.  Curly is arguing with a few drunk locals over how many people actually live in Waitomo.  He says 12 people his drunk township friends claim more.  Nevertheless you would think this old man's favorite drink would be beer.  Nope it's Jaeger bombs.  Right?  That's ridiculous this old bar owner from a town of 12 people likes Jaeger mixed with Red Bull?  New Zealanders confuse the shit of me!

Day 4 - Rotorua

We had an early bus time departure at 7:15 am which was difficult given Curly's insistence on feeding us Jaeger bombs on the house from the previous night.  

We loaded the bus and headed out to Rotorua where the first day's activities had us going to the Agrodome Theme Park which was a bona fide sheep show complete with a crazy sheep farmer who I'll call Vin Diesel because the guy looked like his lost brother.  They brought us to this auditorium that seated roughly 300 people 200 of which were a very enthusiastic Korean Tour group who cheered at every little thing.  Quite entertaining.  During the show they taught about how quickly the sheep cutters can sheer an entire sheep.  The record in New Zealand I believe was 17 seconds.  

After the sheep show completed they took us out to this large green field and demonstrated how the sheep dogs (a cross bred collie) could drive a herd of over 200 sheep.  Pretty impressive stuff.  The sheep industry is huge in New Zealand and they taught us about the quality of their wool.  My guess is there is so much damn grass in this country that you need something to eat it.  New Zealand is very green.

Following the show we boarded the bus for Zorbing.  For those not familiar, Zorbing is where they put you into a giant inflatable hamster ball and roll you down a mountain.  You can either be strapped into a seat or be free with water inside the ball to keep you spinning around in there.  Of course I choose the water option.  Now what they do is drive you to the top of this hill where the hamster balls await your entry.  Once we got to the top the guy fills the inside of the ball with a few gallons of water.  The key being "Hot Water" it felt like being in a jacuzzi and was awesome because it was kind of a chilly day.  A couple seconds later they push you and off you go down the mountain for a 90 second ride down the hill. The ride down the hill was ridiculous.  It felt like being on a water slide but not knowing which way was up or down.  At times l felt the horizon was where my feet were and visa versa.  Needless to say it was AWESOME!

Now for the funny part.  After the ride is over you have to get out of the ball through a tiny exit hole.  As you come out of this tiny hole you are covered in slimy water and lubricant.  They call this your "re-birth".  Is this what it felt like when I was born?  It kind of reminded me of the matrix when Keanu Reeves is awaken from being in the matrix in his pod and disposed of.  Check out the picture..

Next it was off to the Skyline Gondola and Luge rides.   When we arrived the place was a madhouse with tons of people from all over the world.  Who knew the Luge would be so popular.  Anyways our tour group was able to cut the line.  Yes Bridget has her connections.  Headed the Gondola took us to the top of the mountain overlooking Lake Rotorua.  Amazing views reminded me of being at heavenly in Lake Tahoe, except in NZ it was summer.  On the ride up I challenged Cassia, an Aussie from South Australia who is a governess (essentially she teaches children, 3 of them, on a ranch or as she calls it a station).  The wager a cold beer afterwards.  So I got on my luge first and started heading down the mountain a 100 yards but then stopped to make sure it was a fair race.  At that point in time Cassia goes flying by does not stop and I have to play catchup the rest of the run.  Needless to say she is a speed demon and I'm down a cold Steinlager (NZ's equivalent of a Budweiser).

You would think that would be it but no this tour really likes to cram things in.  We headed off to this tribal thermal village called Whakarewarewa pronounced (fucka-day-wah-day-wah).  I'm not kidding, this village's name has been the running joke of the tour.  The Maori own the lands and the tour was led by a local villager who explained how the tribe uses the geothermal activity to cook, bathe, and revitalize.  They showed us this one pool where they cook potatoes, clams, crab and lobster.  They control the temperature by how far down they submerse the food.  The lower you go the hotter it is.  Clam bake anyone?  They also use the steam coming from the geothermals as a covection oven for their meats.  Pretty interesting tour learning about their culture and how they use mother nature to cook.  

That evening we attended a dinner show along with about 50 other tourists at our hotel where the native people, the Maori, put on a show to demonstrate some of the traditions of their people.  The Maori remind me of a cross between Somoan and Polynesian.  If you don't know either think native Hawaiian.  They have dark features and are built like an Ox.  Surprisingly enough I was chosen out of the entire group to participate in the ceremony and play the role of Chief.  The ceremony started with the Maori warrior coming on stage to challenge me in a fighting posture.  When he sees I mean no harm he lays a branch on the ground as a peace offering.  I pick up the branch and walk backwards signifying I come in peace along with the 100 other guests attending the dinner.  He accepts my gesture and now I must greet each of the tribe women on stage with at traditional Maori greeting called the Hongi.  The Hongi involves shaking the hand of each woman and then touching the tip of your nose with their nose twice.  I did this greeting with about 6 women who were onstage.  

Once that was complete the rest of the performance began which involved traditional singing, dancing, and even juggling.  They called up all the men onstage and taught us the Haka dance.  A dance that the Maori warriors used to intimidate rival tribes before going into battle.  You see this similar dance with football teams like the University of Hawaii who have a lot of Polynesian players.  Needless to say we were not that intimidating.  If anything it would encourage our enemies to attack us!  I was touched to have been part of the ceremony.  Thanks Bridget for nominating me!

Day 5 Taupo

Bright and early we hit the road for Lake Taupo stopping along the way at the Geo Thermal grounds where we saw more volcanic activity of boiling mud pools, geysers, and hot pools.

We then hopped back on the bus and headed for our first activity Rock'n Ropes, owned by this crazy Kiwi named Glen.  As we pulled up to the course on the bus I literally shit in my pants at the sight of tight ropes, obstacles, logs, and drawbridges suspended 60 feet in the air. "Hell no I'm not doing this!!  For those that don't know I have always had this fear of heights and the thought of being on a tight rope 60 feet in the air terrified me.  However, I am in New Zealand which is world renown for its adventure/adrenaline sports so I had to buck up and do it.  When Glen greeted us, my immediate thought was Bridget's description of Glen was to the T.  Glen is a man's man rough around the edges, leathery skin, and down right politically incorrect but hilarious.  He has a strong Kiwi accent and I'd be lying if I said I couldn't tell the difference between him and crocodile dundee.  I think Kiwi's and Aussie's sound very similar.  My tour friends would completely disagree.   As we got off the bus Glen's dog ran circles around us at which point he said "Alright mates that's my drug dog, and any drugs he finds will be mine for safe keeping".  Shit I was going to trust my life with this guy.  What am I doing?  

Anyways Glen had a few simple rules listen to his instructions and if you start climbing up a pole you have no choice but to finish climbing the pole and complete the obstacle.  If you chose to stop half way up the pole Glen said "I will climb up there me self and cattle prod you in the ass until you finish the course".  This guy is ridiculous!  Glen then asked, "Alright who in the group is afraid of heights?".  I stupidly raised my hand thinking Glen would go easy on me.  He then says with an evil smile on his face "Perfect you fella from the USA you'll go first on the 3 line tight rope!".  Damn it, what had I done!  So I climb the equivalent of a telephone pole, 60 feet in the air.  Heart is pounding, knuckles are white, I WANT TO GO HOME!  At the top, it felt like I was 120 feet in the air thanks to that wonderful illusion of seeming higher than you really are.  So I start out on the tight rope which felt like the size of dental floss.  I had an additional two ropes shoulder height on either side to help me maintain balance.  I walk out there and immediately I'm wobbling all over the place and looked like gumby on a tight rope.  All the muscles in the world were not helping on this one.  Then I hear 60 feet below, "Hey USA spread your arms out wide and that will help, damn Americans they never listen!".  Glen's instructions made all the difference and I made it across to the other pole and was then was lowered down via ropes below.  

Im done no more obstacles!  Of course there were others to get through and I did, but the craziest obstacle of all, the one where my heart skipped a beat, was called the "Leap Of Faith" onto a trapeze bar.  It involved climbing up a single telephone sized pole standing on top of the pole (a tiny 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet) and jumping from that pole onto a trapeze bar suspended 3 feet away which seemed more like 6 feet.  Catch the Trapeze and you were lowered down gently.  Miss the Trapeze bar and you experience a dramatic fall slowed down right before you reach the ground.  Again, what the hell am I doing?  Some people caught it and some missed it completely.  So I climb up this pole which seemed extremely wobbly and stood at the top of it.  My heart was pounding and I jumped.  Did I make it?  Check out the video:

Rock'n Ropes was a fantastic experience for me and helped me to conquer some fears I have had for a long time.  I will miss Glen and his crazy sense of humor and less than traditional motivational tactics!

That evening our tour group went on a dinner/party boat cruise on Lake Taupo.  We were given a theme for this party and told we had to come in costume dressed up as something that starts with B (For Bridget our tour guide) or P (For Pumbah our bus driver).  There were princesses, butterflies, pirates, police officers, a pimp, and a pippy long-stockings.  I went as Bon Jovi.  Yes I decided to resurrect my Bon Jovi character from my All Analyst Karaoke contest complete with tattoos, bandana and cowboy hat.  It was crazy fun!  we ate, danced, sung and drank the night away on beautiful Lake Taupo.  Lake Taupo is the largest freshwater lake in the Southern Hemisphere at 620 sq/km.  It is a giant crater that became a lake several thousand years ago after many volcanic eruptions.  Check out the pictures and enjoy!