I'm in Love

I really cannot get over how much in love with this island I have become. It is like every time I blink I am visually assulted with more beauty than I can withstand! It is somewhat like the screensavers you have on your computer of places you wish you were instead of in fron of your computer...and that is what I see everytime I turn around. I couldnt possibly take all the pictures I wish to take...or I would quite literally have a bajillion kazillion pictures! I have been taking care to moderate my picture taking as Jo sometimes makes fun of me...but she has applauded my good eye so it equals out. So where did we leave off? Friday afternoon seems so long ago...we tried to purchase tickets to the rugby game but it turns out they dont go on sale until the 22 of January, so we have to bide our time on that one. We went out to the museum after that because on one of my work outings I saw signs up for night in the Auckland museum and thought that would be a good chance for us to see the museum and get a little tour (as we are at work during the day). The sign could have perhaps mentioned that this event was geared towards children...I dont think Jo was impressed with our evening plans. Harry the museum security guard came out to let us know that they started up these tours because they got bored in the evening and wanted to make some extra cash (28 of those dollars were faught out of mine and jo's hands once we noticed the alarming amount of children). They also infromed us that things get quite strange in the museum at night and they often hear odd noises but that we arent to get frightened. We ran into a ghost in the aviary section and he taught us a bit abotu how the museum was back in his day (he was one of the founding members but died before it was built) ie. they didnt have enough birds for a spectacular display so they went out and shot some. He also taught us about the creatures we saw ie. the Wandering Abatross ahas the widest wingspan of any flying creature ever which is 11ft. As we were coming out of the ocean section we caught sight of a running dino (the costumes actually were quite impressive, aside from the children yelling 'nice legs'). Then we got to see baby dinosaurs and fend ourselves from being eaten by the father. After that it was pretty much over, Harry asked the kids if they had any good jokes...they didnt...they were rubbish...oh expcept 'why did the pirate cross the road- to get to the second hand shop' I did giev a little giggle for that kid. Saturday morning we got up early and caught our bus at the skytower to Rotarua. The trip takes 4 hrs. The people sitting infront of us were from Alberta. The scenery on the trip was of course superb, but I found easier to enjoy on the way home. We were let off at the Rotarua tourism centre so we went in straight away to check on seeing a Maori show and taking part in a feast...because we had been given conflicting information on whether to book or not. You did need to book so we had to make a choice between 5 shows. The 2 in hotels we ruled out. And then Chose Te Puia because it also had thermal geysers and mudpools (over the village demonstrations and glow worms at the other 2). When ordering a show you got a free voucher to a choice of three destinations 1. The spa 2. The thermal fields mud baths and 3. the museum. Which one do you think we chose? Did you guess the museum? Because that's where I reluctantly went because Jo didnt want to get wet or dirty. haha! So the museum was an old bathhouse that was running until the 60's so we saw old tubs and stuff. And a section on the latest volcano eruption Mt. Tarawera in the early 1800's that destroyed the fabulous pink and white terraces which were at one time the 8th wonder of the world...if we hadnt found out they were destroyed we wouldve wasted a lot of time searching for them :P There was a sweet as cinema viewing on the event with seats that rumbled when the volcano went off etc. There was also a Maori section on war vets and artifacts. The shuttle to Te Puia picked us up in front of our hostel Treks at 5:30. We took part in a welcoming ceremony that was just as if we were a visiting tribe...we even had to pick a chief to be a leader...and no they wouldnt let girls do it. A warrior came out to offer us a peace token which was a leaf and our chief had to accept it. The a prominent woman sang us welcome to enter. Upon entering the Moari (or morae I saw it spelled also) we had to remove shoes, sunglasses and hats and only men were allowed in the front rows, which we were assured wasnt a sexist idea, but more so that if war did break out between the tribes, the men would be there to protect the women and children...I still didnt feel safe from the looks of our tribe and the looks of theirs. The formal ceremony then took place and after that hoopla was done we were allowed to move up fron as the local tribe entertained us. At the end we were invited up to learn how to do the Haka dance, no correction...the men were invited up and I had to sit on my hands. AFTER THAT the women were invited up to twirl balls on string. I am rubbish at twirling a ball on a string and catching it all the while singing in a foreign language. I have it on film so you dont only have to laugh at the image in your head. After the show it was Hangi time, the traditional meal which wasnt so traditional as some things seemed unMaorian like sushi. JoAnna and I were amazed by all the food as we hadnt had access to that much at once in a long time...we were planning on eating 85$ worth! I think we managed on the dessert table alone. I also got to have my first taste of lamb and I did like it. I did not like some of the other things, and the sweetpotato soup wasnt so great. I have also been finding that lettuce here tastes more like grass and puckers up my face. Also the people there were putting ketchup on their salad...I had to ask 3 times what the red sauce was because I just couldnt believe, I figured they must be mistaken...but I got ketchup as an answer 3 times. My other option was mayonaise....so I just tried the lettuce straight up. Dessert was amazing! That's all I have to say. As we sat there running out of places in our stamachs to squish more chocolate mousse I began to realize the evening was drawing to a close and we hadnt yet seen any thermal activity. So we snuck off and ran around the grounds and were so lucky to get there when teh geyser shot off! Jo and I are feeling very blessed by our luck lately and are having a lot of fun together being silly!! When we returned we saw the group coming towards us and thought that perhaps they were actually going to do a tour and we would have to go through again...but all they did was look down at the geyser from the look off and exclaim that it wasnt active right now. The crowd in unison "awww" Jo and I give sly grins to each other ;) I actually thought we were going to get in trouble as the security guard came towards our group saying something about 2 girls group into a walkie talkie...so I blended further into the group and we walked out without being approached. When we got back to our hostel we refreshned up and grapped our free drink voucher and went to the Pig and Whistle up the street for a glass of wine while listening to The Sesames from Tuaranga. They were an alright band, even playing some snow patrol and green day. We had a good laugh at some of the patrons and their dancing techniques. The next morning I went Zorbing, and JoAnna watched because again it involved getting wet (but we have it in writing here that she promised promised to go bungee jumping with me) I chose the zigzag route and when i got to the top made sure I got a nice and clear zorb ball so JoAnna could see me when I came down (she was lead video director). I was to wave when it was my turn at the top, however the guy in front of me also waved down (quite frantically Jo said) so she filmed him all the way down with commentary on my style...or lack there of (as I had said I was going to do my best to hurl myself around inside the ball) She got a surprise when out popped a guy at the end. Luckily she filmed the next zorb which was indeed myself. We then walked up to the sheep farm and looked around there for a bit. As we were taking pictures we missed the return shuttle that comes every hour so we walked to the Kiwi encounter. Neither of us had appropriate foot wear for such a journey and were melting under the heat. We stopped at a B&B to get a drink of water, she asked where we were coming from and Jo said Canada, we are walkign from the agridome...and she directed us to the hose out back. Pretty funny as this hose had only one setting I believe was called spray yourself in the face. Refreshing at the same time...with that awesome hosey taste. Jo finds it hard to believe we managed to find the one B&B without a sink and a cup. Haha...I said at least they didnt direct us to the creek over the hill! We eventually made it to the kiwis mostly in one piece where Jo downed an apple juice in record time, and I refused to pay 1$ for a banana :P We caught the shuttle at this place (and saved a whole doller...I couldve gotten the banana I suppose) and he dropped us off at the (I will fill in name later) lake (starts with K is all I remember). This is a thermal lake that steams up all around you as you walk over the boardwalk...very cool! We then ate at subway and bought our friends and family souveniers before catching the bus home. We got a pizza with a coupln our way back to the apt that I will finish for supper (a large pizza from dominos here looks like a medium and the classic crust is thin crust, we cant imagine what thin crust is...so jo finished her half because it was just enough to fill her up...still tasted good though! Hard to fit in our mini fridge though!) Today at work I did a lot of 1:1 work with the clients so that was fun...started some kitchen assessments. Tonight Jo and I are going to try and book our South Island trip!! We are so excited!! We may try and join a tour group if it turns out to be cheaper then hiring a car, purchasing the petrol and hostels stays along with the activities we want to do....and inculded trip may prove to be more cost efficient plus provide us with the opportunity to meet more people. I can leave work as soon as I am done with my stuff in here on the computer so i am off to check all the fabulous emails you guys write me :)