Today was fun! We started out sleeping in a little, until about 8am, then off to breakfast and back to get ready for our community service day. The bus was supposed to leave at 9:20, so we headed out there at 9:15…to find no bus. Really?? They left seven people behind. Christie, our leader from the previous day, was luckily there since she was heading to the airport and called the other leader to ask how he managed to manage that one. Apparently a head count had been unnecessary. Anyways, after that brief setback, it was on to Whakarewarewa (that’s the shortened version, mind you), a Maori village located on the thermal craziness that is Rotorua. Unfortunately, we were not informed that we were going on a tour of the village first, so I didn’t bring along my camera. The water looked so clear and blue, apparently due to a rock that made the water look that color. The springs were between 95-110 degrees Celsius, so I kept my distance. There was also some bubbling mud, which was pretty cool. After the tour, we moved on to the service section…which involved fifty of us with eight trashbags total and a few rubber gloves off to collect “rubbish.” There was none. Most of the bags were filled with the discarded gloves. It was kind of pointless, and the leader said they used to have other people organizing it, but lately it had been pretty lackluster. Hopefully they will find something else to do for service, as I would have liked to give back to the community in a more meaningful way. I think we should have helped out around Kiwipaka, because it has been really fun to be here these past few days. The guy running the place, Malcolm, is also super nice. He had volunteered to drive those of us who had missed the bus to the village, and also convinced Christie to let him give her a ride to the airport instead of calling a taxi. It’s a little strange coming from the U.S., where most people would never offer anything like that unless they were going to be paid.
After an afternoon of rest, which included an ice cream run and a much needed shower (a lot of soreness going around from yesterday’s caving adventures), we headed out to the Tamaki Village Maori cultural “experience” and hangi. They had a mock village set up as the Maori lived in the old days. After walking through there, they performed some singing and such while dinner was being prepared. Finally it was food time! Everything was really really good. I also had a chance to try the famous NZ pavlova, which was delicious. After a joyful bus ride back that included singalongs such as “Jesus can’t play rugby (because he only has twelve friends),” the University of Colorado-Boulder fight song, and a rousing finish with “Star Spangled Banner” (did you know that Barack Obama is Maori? The indigenous Hawaiian people are also Maori), we made it back to Kiwipaka for the last night. After a brief stint in the bar, we moved on to pack up our bags and get ready for our 4:45 wake-up call tomorrow. Why we needed to get to Wellington before 8am, I’m not sure. Someone is supposed to be meeting us at the airport from Victoria’s International Office, so that should be good. Since I don’t know my living or internet situation, it might take a few days to get up and running, so hang in there everyone! I’ll be back! For now, Kia Ora!
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