New Zealand Photos 2

Yes, slowly does it...Archiving all these photos has been a crazy task, since:

1) There are so many
2) I've got little time to do so.

Still, I will finish this task and get all the images out here eventually...Meanwhile...well, enjoy.

15th June

On the 15th, the group went to a national park in Rotorua to learn about the Maori culture and to see mud pools and geysers and hot springs emanating sulphur dioxide.

Can you smell Rotorua? Well, I dare say so.

This first image is of a tall post attached to a traditional Maori building. It is adorned with carvings and paua shells, perhaps to tell the story of the ancestor who once lived there.


Here is a carver hard at work, creating beautiful carvings that he has to spend years of apprenticeship learning how to make.


An example of traditional carving, richly detailed with scrolls and loops. Truly amazing.

Another place in the park, which made me think of...a glade from Peter Pan's Never Never Land. You half expect the Lost Boys to come out of the bushes brandishing wooden swords and beating off pirates. That boat-like shape is a bird trap, filled with fruit and other treats in order to catch unwary featherbrains. It reminds me of a pirate ship.

Hot mud pools, bubbling and glopping. God's cooking pots!

And finally, the sulphurous hot springs! There in the background you can see a geyser shooting in the air. The sulphur-tinged rocks give the place a surreal air, as if one was on another planet. As a downside, this place really smells quite strongly of rotten eggs (yes, sulphur dioxide...urgh). I'm surprised people could get used to it long enough to settle here.

Dawn and Po Ni, sitting on steps carved out of rocks which are warmed by the hot currents beneath. Butt warming! Mmmm...

Jonathan enjoying being in a hot seat.

More images of the hot springs...right out of a sci-fi movie.

After we had our fill of Nature's wonders, we head back to where we started at the traditional Maori building to receive a traditional Maori welcome: A hakka. Here Mr Ramesh was chosen as our "chief", as he had been elected by the entire group of students, even as we were surrounded by several tourist groups. Here he is receiving his instructions about how he was expected to act as our "chief".

I don't have good pictures of the hakka as they were very blur due to poor lighting and constant movement. However I can tell you that it was very interesting to behold, as the performers danced with pois (not poise, mind you, POIS. A poi is a round white ball that they used as part of the dance) and told the audience Maori stories. Mr Ramesh (as chief) had to rub noses (as is the Maori way) with some of the performers, as a form of greeting and possibly a gesture of peace.

After that, we headed to a park where we would conduct some experiments on the water from the hot pools. Yes, more sulphurous pools! But first...a wonderful treat in the form of fish and chips! Excellent meal.

The steam from the pools caught the light filtering through the foliage overhead, and I got a few beautiful views of this, which is rarely seen in tropical zones such as the area in which I live.

A bolt of yellow in the striking blue sky.

I don't know why, but I love this tree.

A very large pond of warm springwater, cooled somewhat by the wintery air. The little black spot you see there is a tiny bird flitting over the water's surface, perhaps attempting to warm himself up.

Whoever Shawn was, his name will be here forever, carved crudely into a weathered picnic bench, one name among many names.

And a break, before leaving at last, reliving our childhoods...

This was taken after a brief shopping trip, and is a fitting final image for the day, I think.