New Zealand: Day 9

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January 11, 2013

Most of the day was overcast with occasional brief showers. Temperatures were in the low 70s.

We had not yet finished exploring Rotorua; indeed, we had not yet seen the best the town had to offer, which was to be found at the Te Puia complex. Te Puia included a woodcrafting school where four students at a time were selected to work under the guidance of a master craftsman to learn traditional Maori woodcarving techniques. We were able to watch all five at work on pieces at various stages of completion; some were quite large -- the woodworking pieces, not the craftsmen.

The complex also included a weaving school where students learned traditional Maori techniques in that art, all the way from collecting plants to making a very strong twine, to making finished pieces such as clothing and baskets.

New Zealand surpasses other governments in its support of the indigenous culture (although the Maori are a little different from many other indigenous cultures in that they did not arrive in New Zealand until 600 to 1,000 years ago). In some respects New Zealand has assimilated the Maori because few full-blooded Maori remain; intermarriage has diluted most pure Maori blood. At the same time, however, the Maori have assimilated New Zealand because the Maori play such a key role in the cultural life of even modern day New Zealand. This is reflected most clearly in the ubiquitous use of Maori names for towns and other geographical locations. "Kia ora" -- a Maori phrase with a variety of meanings ranging from "hello" to "thank you" to "farewell" and even more -- is used by everyone, Maori and non-Maori alike. It is one of the first phrases one must learn when visiting New Zealand. I get a strong sense that New Zealand citizens are proud of their Maori heritage and celebrate it, even if one is not oneself a Maori.

We then moved on to the parts of Te Puia that most resembled Yellowstone. We saw a fairly large field of bubbling mud. We saw a terrace not unlike Mammoth Hot Springs (although not as colorful), and out of that stack of terraced, steaming pools shot a geyser. Our timing was perfect because we arrived just as the geyser was erupting. It did not erupt on as regular a schedule as Old Faithful, nor did it shoot as high into the sky as that famous geyser. However, when it does erupt, it shoots for a lengthier period of time. There once were nine geysers at Te Puia, but now only four are active. The growth of Rotorua has led to homes and businesses digging into the same local aquifer that feeds Te Puia, and that has diminished the capacity of Te Puia's geysers.

Te Puia has a terrific gift shop, as might be expected with the two schools in the complex, carrying all sorts of authentic Maori wood carvings and woven items at much more reasonable prices than I had seen elsewhere. I bought a few gifts for friends back home, including a very nice Maori mask.

It was then time to begin driving to our destination for the day, Turangi. We made a single stop at Taupo for lunch (I found an Indian restaurant that was quite good), and one "photo op" stop just outside Taupo at a vista point overlooking Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand's north island. The cloud cover was so dense, I didn't even get out of the bus to take photographs; the alpine mountains we should have been able to see in the distance were not visible. I was somewhat disappointed, but I made a mental note that this was a place I would have to revisit when I returned to New Zealand.

Turangi, where we would be staying that night, was only 45km from Taupo, so it was not long before we reached our destination for the day. It was only about 2:00. Most of my fellow travellers decided to relax and enjoy the afternoon at leisure, but eight others and I had opted for a whitewater rafting trip down the Tongariro River at the edge of Tongariro National Park. Although the section of the Tongariro River down which we travelled was only rated as a Category 3, and I had been whitewater rafting previously, this was a new experience because (1) we were fully outfitted in wet suits and other gear, (2) the trip, at two and a half hours, was considerably longer than my previous experience, and covered more extensive and vigorous rapids, and (3) I sat at the front of the raft. The guide asked who wanted to get wet, and when I quickly responded, "I do!" I earned my spot at the front of the raft.

I did indeed get quite wet, and I was glad we had been outfitted in wet suits and other layers of clothing. There were even two occasions when, as we were going through a section of rapids, the front of the raft suddenly flew upwards, and I, not being sufficiently anchored, went tumbling backwards. If it weren't for the quick actions of my companions in the raft, I may well have gone overboard. But that's part of the point of these high adrenaline sports, is it not, to take risks? Of course one does everything possible to minimize those risks, but just knowing that those risks are lurking beneath the surface, and sometimes they come close to erupting into fruition, is what makes these types of adventures so exciting.

The dreary cloud cover that had been with us the entire day lifted just as we began our expedition down the Tongariro River. The water was the very definition of pristine, because I could see the bottom of the river throughout the entire journey. We could drink the water because it was free of giardia and other parasites commonly found in US waterways; it was cool and delicious. It was a lovely and -- with the exception of the thrilling moments of traversing the many rapids -- serene trip. We travelled through canyons with walls covered with mosses and ferns. Again, I was impressed with how green everything was.

But even the heart-stopping moments when we were paddling as hard as we could in order to avoid having the raft "wrapping" (caught against a rock, held there by the flow of water around the raft) added to the quality of the experience. I had a terrific time, as evidenced by the photographs taken by the rafting company's staff. All of their photos show me grinning from ear to ear. I would have loved to have been able to have taken my own camera along, but it would not have survived the trip had it gotten as soaked as I did.

This whitewater rafting trip is but a warm-up to another whitewater rafting trip I will be taking in a couple of weeks near Queenstown, this time down a Category 4 river. I will try to finagle a front row seat again, hopefully having learned during this experience what I need to do in order to avoid going overboard. I did purchase the CD-ROM of photographs the rafting company took at various points along our trip, and I will make those available at the same time I make my own photographs available in February when I return home.

I absolutely love my iPad, but two of the features it lacks that I wish it had are the ability to read CD-ROMs and DVDs as well as USB flash drives. I have to use apps like Dropbox or Google Docs to get files from my laptop onto the iPad. This is only a quibble as the inconvenience is minor, and perhaps just a little frustrating right now because I'm unable to have my photographs accompany my text reports of my daily travels. I'm sure photographs would make these messages much more vivid.

ADDENDUM: I have created a page with additional commentary about the Tongariro whitewater rafting adventure along with photographs which is located here.

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