Kia Ora!

Kia Ora!

After our 13 hour flight from LA, we arrived in Aukland at 5:45 am.  We picked up our rental car and drove 2 hours to Rotorura. Steve is in charge of the driving for the following reasons:

1.    They drive on the left side of the road.

2.    The cars are also positioned with the driver side on the right side of the car.

3.    Steve hates my driving.

Jim was right.  The landscape is beautiful.  Steve and I drove through so many bright green valleys. Even though it is winter now, everything was green and colorful.  We also saw so many fields and fields of sheep grazing.  I loved seeing the baby sheep. They are as small as Mannishevitz! The highlight of the road trip was stopping at all the villages along the way to grab a bite to eat.  Since Steve is the driver, I’m in charge of locating food stops.  First stop grabbed my attention with a COUNTRY FRIED CHICKEN sign outside.  Who doesn’t want fried chicken?  It was delicious!  Then we made another stop at a bakery and ended up eating another breakfast style meal.   It was great.  2 meals in 2 hours…this trip was off to a great start.

Once we checked into our hotel, we were a bit jet lagged so Steve took a nap and I had to do the unthinkable…my freakin’ long run.  16 MILES.  Marathon training sucks because you become a slave to the training.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been a good slave for 3 weeks prior to the wedding because I was running around tying up loose ends with the wedding and at work.  Anyways, now I have no excuse. I started my long run outside of our hotel.   Fortunately, NZ’s winter temps means 50s which is ideal running conditions.  AND, there are so many trails and paths for bikers and runners so it made it easy to just start this dreadful run outside of the hotel.  BTW, Steve hasn’t been able to run for 6 weeks because he is injured.  After I finished my run, Steve was awake and we had to get ready for dinner with the Maori Tribe.  This tribe is the oldest living settlers in New Zealand.  Just like the American Indians, the Maoris were pushed out and now only a few are living throughout NZ. 

When we arrived at the village, we were greeted by Maori rituals.  Then we walked around the different huts where the Maori invited us to take part in their activities and chants.  Moments like this reminds me why I love Steve so much.  Steve embraces every situation and loves to get in the thick of things.  My way of embracing a situation is observing and then sharing my observations with Steve and/or my friends.  Steve will roll up his sleeves and be the first to try something new.  So Steve learned the following…

Haka – this is the Maori chant. The Maroi used this chant to scare their enemies.  Now the NZ rugby players display the Maori chant at matches to intimidate opposing teams.  Steve has been doing this chant everyday ever since he learned it.

Hand – Eye – the Maori used very basic means to prepare their tribe for hand-eye coordinated movements.  Sometimes it would be as simple as passing sticks around or moving around in circles and catching other tree branches.  Steve did this exercise with a group of other volunteers and he won this exercise! 

After walking through the village, we had a big feast.  This is when I roll up my sleeves.  Just like a Hawaiian luau,  the Maoris cook their meats and vegetables under the Earth using hot stones and fire.   The food was delicious!  After dinner, they  invited people to perform the Haka.   You know Steve ran up there with the other eager volunteers. I was eating my bread pudding w/custard and wondered how they made this bread pudding underground.