A Warm Welcome:
The past few days have been quite
interesting. We flew into Auckland early Sunday morning only to be surprised by
a wonderful day. The sun was shining, the air was fresh, the sky was bright
blue and the temperature was pleasant. I felt as though the country itself was
giving us a warm welcome.
Auckland is a big city. It reminds
me a lot of many of the cities back in the US. The only exception is the city
resides on several volcanoes both dormant and active. I have just recently
learned that the two islands are very different in terms of how they were made
geologically. The North Island is formed by the black basalt and volcanic
debris where as the South Island is formed by Glacial carving. Hey…three days
in and already learning new things. The future looks bright.
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| Auckland |
Since then we have traveled down to
a town called Rotorua. Yesterday we were invited onto a Maori village called
Wharenui, Ohinemutu village. It was
an unbelievable cultural experience. When we arrived on site we were led by a
“chief” from our group. From there we were led to the entrance of the building
only to wait, watch and respond to a very sacred and traditional call and
response Maori tradition. After all was said and done, we shared a very
traditional Maori meal.
The people I am traveling with are college students like
myself (mostly from California). We are still in the awkward phase of
ge…….PAUSE…… A FIRE ALARM IN THE HOSTEL IS HAPPENING NOW……(10 min later).. We
are in the awkward phase of getting to know each other. I am so happy to have
my good friend Lucian with me. He is the man. Everything else is great. The
food, people we meet, and of course the scenery is sweet as.
Proof of a fire alarm….
Maori Visit…..
Oh and did I
mention my friend Lucian and I just finished rafting class 4/5 rapids on the
Kaituna River which has the largest commercially rafted waterfall (7 meters =
about 23ft!!!!). Beyond that waterfall were more massive waterfalls where
people have been killed so we couldn’t do those. Good thing too. It was by far
the most insane rafting I have ever done.
