We took a nice slow morning walking around Napier in the AM. The beach was a little windswept for swimming. The town was nice and pretty alive for 9am on a Saturday. We Facetimed with mommy, so Victoria was happy. Then, we eventually got on our way.
First thing Victoria did was insist that we go wine tasting. Ok that's not exactly true, but she did like the fact that they had flavor elements to smell. As a matter of fact, she was really good. Without reading (yet), she sniffed them and said "Strawberry", "Lemon", "Watermelon", and (my personal favorite) "I don't know how to say it in English, but Slivov in Bulgarian (Plum, labeled Prune here). Good nose on that girl.
From there, it was a pretty drive - along the Pacific and through rolling hills.
We got into Rotorua and (naturally) about two blocks from the hotel Victoria fell asleep. She wanted to nap, but once we got to the room - no sleep. So after trying to sleep for more than an hour, we gave up and went to the pool. She had a good time swimming (mostly just splashing).
From there, we went to the Tamaki cultural center, where we checked in and got on a bus to the Tamaki Village a few miles outside of the town. It was cool - they had a sheet on what to expect: the welcome (a threatening Haka dance with spears), a little walk around to learn about the culture, see how they cooked the meal in an earth oven, then a show, and finally dinner.
All in all a good time, although Victoria was pretty subdued (see "nap, failure to"). Great people, I recommend it. The natural comparison would be with a Luau in Hawaii. At a Luau, the focus is food and the show. There were food and entertainment, but I would say that this was more intentionally educational about Maori culture - how they do the Haka dance, training warriors, the plants they use for certain items, etc. All good.
Tomorrow we visit Hobbitton - yes, it is what it sounds like. Then we go to Auckland for a night.
First thing Victoria did was insist that we go wine tasting. Ok that's not exactly true, but she did like the fact that they had flavor elements to smell. As a matter of fact, she was really good. Without reading (yet), she sniffed them and said "Strawberry", "Lemon", "Watermelon", and (my personal favorite) "I don't know how to say it in English, but Slivov in Bulgarian (Plum, labeled Prune here). Good nose on that girl.
From there, it was a pretty drive - along the Pacific and through rolling hills.
We got into Rotorua and (naturally) about two blocks from the hotel Victoria fell asleep. She wanted to nap, but once we got to the room - no sleep. So after trying to sleep for more than an hour, we gave up and went to the pool. She had a good time swimming (mostly just splashing).
From there, we went to the Tamaki cultural center, where we checked in and got on a bus to the Tamaki Village a few miles outside of the town. It was cool - they had a sheet on what to expect: the welcome (a threatening Haka dance with spears), a little walk around to learn about the culture, see how they cooked the meal in an earth oven, then a show, and finally dinner.
 |
| The Welcoming Committee greets our chiefs with a "Powhiri" |
All in all a good time, although Victoria was pretty subdued (see "nap, failure to"). Great people, I recommend it. The natural comparison would be with a Luau in Hawaii. At a Luau, the focus is food and the show. There were food and entertainment, but I would say that this was more intentionally educational about Maori culture - how they do the Haka dance, training warriors, the plants they use for certain items, etc. All good.
Tomorrow we visit Hobbitton - yes, it is what it sounds like. Then we go to Auckland for a night.
No comments:
Post a Comment