Day Two: Cultural Differences

Today, we woke up rather early and got the extreme opportunity to see a spectacular sunrise over the lake outside our hotel.  It was so incredible that my camera didn't do it justice, so I didn't take any pictures. :(  But it's all in my head, so it's ok, at least for me.  But really, it was fantastic.  And then we heard an awful rumbling noise and a hideous amphibious vehicle rolled up.  It was an army duck.  Pretty soon, another followed.  My group and I went on the second one with the guide, Grant.  Later, we went to Whakarewarewa (Whaka), which is an extremely awesome geothermal village.  After that, we went to the Agrodome for a sheep show, which was unique, to say the least.  Finally, we went in the Ogo balls, which was soooo fun.  I really can't explain an Ogo ball.  You'll have to look at the picture.  They do put some warm water in them, though.  They're really fun.  I highly recommend them. :)

Lexa is on the left, and I'm on the right- falling :)

Ogo roll down a hill...

Pre-Fishpipe!!  Me on the left, Lexa on the right

This morning, we went on a Duck tour of two lakes in Rotorua, including Lake Rotorua. (Rotorua actually means "second lake".)  A Duck is amphibious vehicle from WWII.

This is a Duck. :)

After the Duck tour, we were dropped off at Whakarewarewa. Whaka is a geothermal village where a community of Maori families live and tourists come to visit.  I loved Whaka because it's so different from what you would see in America.  The people there bathe daily in the water from the hot pools.  They also have these little wooden boxes where they cook their food with the geothermal.  The houses have no heating or ovens.  The people gather in big houses to celebrate and to talk and socialize.  They also have churches that aren't what you would expect; one is Anglican and the other is Catholic!  One question that I forgot to ask was how the two religions coexist because both Catholicism and Anglican are monotheist and the traditional Maori religion is polytheist. 
In the afternoon, we went to the Agrodome for a sheep show, which was smelly but really funny!  They had a bazillion different types of sheep.  The sheep shearer was really funny, but sheep shearing looked like hard work, so I'm glad that's not my job...

At the Agrodome!

After the Agrodome, we went in the Ogo Balls, which was a total blast!!!  I didn't want to spend a ton of money, so Lexa and I went in the Fishpipe, which doesn't roll down a hill.  I can honestly say that I have never done anything like it in my life.  Words can't describe how incredible the Ogo was.  The guy who incented it was there too, and he was a pretty cool guy.  After the Ogo ball, we all went back to the hotel for the Hangi, which was delicious, especially the chicken. There was a traditional Maori group there that did an hour long performance, including the Haka, which I love.  Then the girls went on stage to learn how to use the poi balls, which is waaay harder than it looks because the poi are so light.  But it was fun. :)    After that, the guys learned the Haka, which was great to see.  Overall, I loved the entire experience.

The Haka!!!!!! :P