Taupo

Today I ventured about an hour south of Rotorua to Lake Taupo which is the largest lake in New Zealand.

But first- last night I went to a Maori dinner and show at a local tribe right outside of town. It was a fabulous cultural experience where we were able to eat authentic food,  learn history and dances, and see animals native to NZ.The whole gathering consisted of about 80 people coming from 17 different countries.  My table consisted of a couple from England on their eighth month of a nine month world tour (typical)  and a family from Indonesia.  The couple on the world tour is headed to San Fran in a few days where they will travel across the US for their final weeks of the trip!

The Maori have a similar story to our Native Americans in America. Living with a certified Lumbee Indian,  I understand a lot about the culture :)
Anyway,  the best part of the night were the dances.  They explained that each tribe has their own version of the Haka (seen before many rugby games) which is a traditional war dance. I cannot wait to tell my girls that this will be part of our spring dance performance!

We had a delicious meal which was cooked using white hot stones (the traditional way) consisting of lamb,  potatoes and a variety of salads. We had pavlova,  fruit,  and other cakes for dessert.

After dinner we travelled to an animal farm (small zoo) where we saw the kiwi bird! They are sneaky little guys that only come out for a second for you to get a good look. We learned a lot about the kiwi bird (which is native to NZ and cannont actually fly) and saw many other interesting animals including: lizards,  parrots, and trout (fun fact: Lake Taupo has the highest trout population in the world).

This morning I stopped at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland to see the Lady Knox Geyser erupt and to check out the many geothermal pools,  lakes,  and craters that make up the park. It was fascinating!  A guide compared this area to Yellowstone National Park and I'll have to say it definitely reminded me of seeing Old Faithful erupt many years ago.

After the park I drove down to the Lake, had my best sushi lunch so far on the trip (the only meal I didn't take a picture of) and then headed to my rock climbing adventure.

Like most of the adventurous things I've done so far on the trip,  I wasn't too nervous for this. But I'll admit that it was terrifying and I think I'm still shaking a little from the Giant Swing at the end.

I had the course all to myself and completed about six high ropes challenges including walking across a wooden beam and tight rope, and jumping off a stump to catch onto a swing (absolutely terrifying). The guide was awesome and only tried to scare me a little. He said school groups as young as six years old use this ropes courses and the oldest person to go on the giant swing is 82... now I have a great idea for birthday gifts for my grandparents!

For any of you who watch the Real World/Road Rules Challenges (plays on vintage MTV in my house daily) that's exactly what this event was like.  It was very scary but lots of fun!

Tonight is the big rugby game!  It continues to be all the talk around here and although we're a few hours from the stadium were the game is being played,   we are still in Waikato which is the home team- Go Chiefs!