Part Two (Rotorua)

Once I managed to figure out how to use the dryers at Base for my wet clothes, I got ready to go to the Mitai show. I was picked up by a large Maori man, and befriended a Norwegian guy that on the van. His name was "Magnus" - awesome name. Anywho, the bus fills up with a bunch of Germans, and we are dropped off at the Mitai tribal grounds. Once we were all seated (about 100 people), the large Maori man picked a Chief and he chose Magnus to represent our "11 tribes" (there were 11 countries represented). The performance began with a ceremony to prove that we come in peace - a Maori warrior did a scary "hiya!" dance and then threw a fern on the ground (I think it was a fern? I dunno). Magnus walked over, picked it up, bowed, and then we were welcomed by their chief b/c apparently that means we come in peace.

I befriended the right guy, that's for sure - since Magnus and I were chatting, the big Maori guy asked me to be the "chief's assistant" and run around and take photos for him. Throughout the whole night, I got front row, center seats! Cool!

The performance was great - we learned all about the Maori culture, how warriors prepared for war, how they exercised, etc. It was a lot different from the other shows I'd been to, and the Maori chief was really funny. There was one guy that I thought was going to have a heart attack he was flailing so much!

Then we got to eat this enormous meal from the Hangi, which is a huge hole in the ground that they cover with hot stones to cook meals. We had lamb, chicken, rice, potatoes, salad... it's probably the best meal I've had since I've been here!

After the meal, we went over to the glow worms - I was wrong about what they are, btw! Glow worms are actually insects, whoops! They're not rocks like I thought... we walked through this trail in the pitch dark, and there were these little itty bitty lights on either side of us - kind of like when you were kids and would smack lightning bugs when they were lit up so they'd stay lit up - oh wait, was that just me? Come on, you know you did that too... right? This is what it looked like (thanks Google):

And that was it! Very fun.

From there, I asked the big Maori guy who drove the van to drop me off at the Polynesian spas - the perfect end to a great day. This is what it looks like during the day, but at night it was the same:

There are 35 hot mineral pools here that are filled with the water from the natural springs in Rotorua. It was fantastic. I also was able to shower and everything there - much nicer than the hostels that's for sure :). Busy day, but it was lovely!