Maori Village & Kiwi Plantation

Maori Village and Kiwi Plantation
Today we started with a “free shuttle” into the town of Tauranga. When we got off the free shuttle we paid to go on a tour to Rotorua to visit an authentic Maori Village located on a geyser field in an area where New Zealanders come to holiday. This is one of the Pacific’s most active thermal areas, Rotorura is a place of vibrant culture and great natural beauty. The first thing we saw when we arrived were Maori children diving for coins that were thrown from a bridge. When they found the coins they would put them in their cheek to hold them while they dove for the next one. It was explained that this was their “spending money” and they would go to town to buy tickets to the Rugby match.
Rugby is New Zealand’s national sport and is much like soccer (we think). We toured a village where Maori women cook by putting their food in a mesh bag and lowering the bag into a hot spring pool. They would cook all their vegetables that way. The meat and desserts were steamed in a box put over a geyser steam hold for several hours. Everyone shared all the food.
Our next stop was a Kiwi Plantation. We went to the orchard where the Kiwi hung from vines much like a grape field. The Golden Boys had Kiwi ice cream and the Golden Girls shopped. We drank Kiwi juice about the consistency of carrot juice and not too tasty.
Six BMK Travelers