Whakarewarewa Villiage

To Waiotapu, New Zealand

We eventually decided to visit the Whakarewarewa Maori village, one of the major tourist attractions here in Rotorua. It took us until almost noon to get out of camp, partly because Etienne and I were still trying to figure out what was wrong with the fridge in our van. From the reading Etienne had done, the fridge, though old, is considered a very good one. It can run on propane, 240V AC, or 12V DC, the later being how ours is setup. Unfortunately, the 12V method is the least effective and, at best, will keep a cold fridge cool. However, if you want to make something cold to begin with, you're out of luck. The good news was that we confirmed the fridge actually works when plugged to AC power source. Curiously, when you plug the van into AC power, that doesn't power the fridge. Even more frustrating, driving the car doesn't charge the external battery, only the solar panel will do that. It’s a crazy and frustratingly poor system.

When we were finally ready to go, the gate at the camp exit was closed and our code didn't work. It should have, but since we had overstayed the 10:00 checkout, the code had expired. Luckily, the attendant took mercy on us, and let us out anyway.

At the Maori village, we saw mud pools, hot springs and distant geysers scattered among the neat wooden houses. The village indeed contains the real life homes of about 25 families. The Maori people have lived on this thermal site since they arrived in the area in the 1300’s. Since the late 1800’s residents have given tours with guests including Eleanor Roosevelt and Queen Elizabeth II. I particularly enjoyed the traditional dancing and singing program.

After the program and tour, we found a park to eat lunch in. We spent the afternoon there where the kids played and we were able to soak our feet in the hot, therapeutic spring water.

Puheko in a bubbling mud pool

In the end, we decided to head south for the evening and camp behind a restaurant/tavern about 30km away in Waiotapu. On the way out of town, however, we stopped first at the Redwood Visitor Center. This is actually a large grove of California coastal redwoods, planted way back in 1901. The native, slow growing forests in New Zealand had been cut down at such an alarming rate in the 1800’s, that the government offered incentives for growing and harvesting more exotic foreign species. Hundreds of different types were planted to see which would grow the best. The de facto winner turned out to be the radiata pine, which, like the coastal redwood came originally from California. Because of the much higher rainfall, both these trees grow significantly faster than in much drier "Golden State."

Decorative lights added to the redwoods

We had only planned on a short, ground-level hike, but at the visitor center, the man in charge of the redwoods tree walk, a suspended platform between the trees, offered us a significantly reduced price -- perhaps because it was the end of the day and the rain was coming. The walk was fun since it gave nice views of the trees and the large tree ferns growing below. To add to the night time ambiance, a dozen lights were suspended between the trees or built literally around the trunks. The informational signs along the way, taught us about the amazing redwoods.

We’d been expecting rain for a couple days and finally, it came. It was almost dark when we arrived at the tavern in tiny Waiotapu. Since the kitchen would be closing just 20 minutes after we arrived, we quickly parked and raced back into the tavern for dinner. Dex and Arno could not wait to try out the pool table, the adults had a beer, while Louis and Kylie definitely looked ready for bed.