The Thermal Village

We spent a day visiting the Thermal Village. This is a Maori village that is open to tourists but is an actual proper place where they live still! It was fantastic and we had a very handsome guide with a deep rich voice.

This is a view of the village across the geothermal landscape and the sign with it's full name - and at only 36 letters it is quite short up against the winner with a name of 87 letters! And we couldn't even pronounce the shorter version on the brown sign.

This is the Maori meeting house next to the Catholic Church. When the Christians came (according to our guide!) they thought that the Old Testament was similar enough to their beliefs so they went along with it. (Mind you - shouldn't that make them Jewish!?) Anyway, the chief had to decide. Will we be Anglican or Catholic? And his final thoughts were.... "You on my right hand side will be Catholic...and you on my left will be Anglican" And so it was!

Due to the heat in the land all the bodies had to be buried above ground so it gives the graveyard a very odd look.

Some of the earlier houses they built were only for sleeping in. They used the local fern trees and they were very sturdy.

Part of the trip was a cultural show. It was completely entrancing. The music is so rhythmic and they introduced guitars to attract the younger members of the tribe. We even had to join in and sing a song about the Maori vowel sounds.

This is Pohutu Geyser or the "Big Splash". It erupts between 10 and 25 times a day and can reach 98 feet high. When we were there it just kept going for well over half an hour continuously erupting. The only thing that spoiled it was that the view of the water was often hidden by the steam, but it was fantastic.

Mud pools in the village.

This is the "Champagne Pool" where the steam rises to give you a facial; it helps with hay fever and sinus problems; and then bubbles just like Champagne!

We had a Hangi Meal which is all cooked in muslin bags or pots put into the steam under the ground and cooked au natural! It was lovely and the meat was so tasty and fell off the bone.

The whole place was fascinating and when we got back to our hotel we had a mineral bath there which was very relaxing. The water was warm and it left your skin all smooth (and turned my silver ring black / purple!)

We are now in Auckland staying with Dave and Steve (and doing the washing!) until we do a round trip via Gisborne and Napier. More details to follow.