New Zealand
Summer of 2003
If I remember correctly "kia ora" is greetings in Maori. Unfortunately,
I only had 5 days in New Zealand
and only saw a little bit of the north island: Waitomo, Rotorua,
and Auckland. Here is more info on the places:
Waitomo - The name Waitomo comes from wai (water) and tomo
(hole). The Waitomo region has many limestone caves full of stalactites
(hang from top of cave), stalagmites (form on bottom of cave and 'might'
reach the top), and glowworms. Glowworms aren't really worms.
They are the larvae of a gnat, which loooks like a large mosquito.
The larvae glowworms give off a soft greenish light to attract other
insects for food. They catch the food by threads of muscus that
hang from the larvae. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside
the cave, but seeing the glowworms was like seeing the stars in the
night sky. It was quite amazing.
Rotorua: Rotorua is a center of thermal activity (boiling
mud pools, geysers) and abundant Maori culture: concerts and hangi.
Rotorua was the highlight of my trip, because I felt like I learned
a lot about the Maori culture and history from the Maori concert and
the Rotorua museum. Also the thermal pools were cool to see.
Rotorua museum:
http://www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz
Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Wonderland:
http://www.geyserland.co.nz
Auckland: Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand
with over 1 million people and it has a large polynesian population.
The weather was definitely winter weather and so I didn't walk around
the city much. I opted for the tourist sightseeing bus and went
to Kelly Tarlton's Antartic encounter and Underwater world (has a
walk through underwater tunnel), Auckland Museum, Victoria Park Market,
and Art Gallery.
Auckland Museum:
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com
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