rotorua

ahhh nothing like the sweet smell of rotten eggs filling the air to ensure a great time! i arrive and look after the food situation. seems that the first thing i do anywhere and everywhere is food. im not reading anything into this, but you work away.
spend the evening in the polynesian spa. which is, according to conde nast, one of the top 10 spas in the world. well it was night and the pools are outside. they ranged in temperature from 38degrees to 42. i sat in the pools and watched the steam escaping into the night air. looked at the moon and the stars and listened to all the birds beside the lake. i floated back to the hostel and fell into the bed. best nights sleep .... ever.
next day feeling more relaxed than recharged i have a very slow meander around two of the parks and look at (and smell) some of the hot pools and bubbling mud pools. pretty crazy, their all just in the local park like it was a normal thing. people bubbling mud pools? not normal.
i take a nap. i do love a good nap.
then head to a maori hangi. which is an evening of food and cultural stuff. all the food is cooked in the hangi; which is basically an oven in the ground. i dont know how traditional it was to be honest as im not quite sure how garlic bread featured in the historical lives of the maori. but hey who am i to judge. i did get to see a haka dance which was very cool.
i also got to see a kiwi bird! man are they cool. oh sorry, 'sweet as' ....
went to the kiwi encounter. flightless bird, native to nz etc etc .... but the most interesting thing is of course the mammy kiwi bird - she carries baby kiwi in an egg that essentially takes over 80% of her body when its fully grown and then she lays that bad boy. human equivalent would be giving birth to a 35pound baby. sweet jesus. give it for the kiwi mamma!