NZ culture

Enjoyed four large parts of New Zealand's culture today:

1.  Stopped by the Hobbiton movie set, though declined to spend $75NZ on the actual tour of Hobbiton.  I like Lord of the Rings, but not that much... New Zealand seems very proud of its role in the Lord of the Rings movies.

2.  Spent the afternoon in Rotorua soaking in the hot springs adjacent to Lake Rotorua.  This area of the country is very geothermal (lots of hot springs, geysers, volcanic activity, etc), and people from New Zealand have long come to this area to enjoy the restorative benefits of the hot springs. Today, the historical bath houses from the 1800s/early 1900s are a museum, but they have modern interpretations of these bath houses that are absolutely delightful. 

3.  Ended the day with dinner and a performance of traditional Maori culture.  This area of New Zealand is known for its Maori heritage (and making it accessible to tourists as a glimpse into former and current Maori culture).  Ate a traditional 'hangi' dinner (similar to a Hawaiian luau where it's cooked underground for several hours, but no pig - in NZ, it's lamb), drank wine from the first Maori-owned winery in NZ, and was treated to a performance of traditional Maori dancing, 'haka' (war chants), welcoming ceremony, etc.  Very cool and a nice insight into the Maori culture which is much more present and relevant in NZ than Native American culture is in the U.S.  There were clashes between the Maori tribes and white settlers, but apparently not to the same extent as in the US.  They found a way to coexist a lot more peacefully than they did in North America, so that the Maori culture still thrives today.

4.  Saw an elusive kiwi to finish off the night.  Took a night walk after the hangi dinner, and saw glow worms, New Zealand lizards, a kea bird (related to the parrot, and it will apparently try to eat the tires off our cars on the South Island), and the famous but difficult to see kiwi bird.  Kiwis are endangered and difficult to find the wild (mostly just in protected areas), and they're also nocturnal.  Luckily we got a great view of one of the kiwis at the Rainbow Gardens sanctuary, and saw another one hiding around in the back of her enclosure.  They're larger than I thought they'd be (the size of a small chicken), and quite fast!