New Zealand Travels (March 11th, 2003) Hangi

"Not much to do in Rotorua when the rain is coming down in stair rods. A quick trip to the supermarket for apples, kiwi fruits, cheese and salami. Good travelling food - it keeps well in the daysack and provides all the necessary bits the body needs. I'm hoping that I may lose some weight on this trip so I'm trying to stick to low fat, low carbohydrate food. The problem occurs with bread - I can't seem to find a way to remove bread from my diet. You see, in my understanding, bread contains lots of carbs, which is ideal if you're out and about burning up fuel through slow release - eg walking with a light rucksack for a few miles. If you are just sitting on a bus then all those carbohydrates are getting converted to fat which does nothing to improve the figure (ooh, he's so vain).
Anyway, sorted out the groceries and then went off to the Agrodome which is basically a few disjointed huts spread out over a large area of farmland. They hold various events and performances there, but are quite limited in the rain. Myself and a chap called Paul (who has heard of Dicky since he used to work for the SRA) went off to the show to get a feel for the sheep farming industry. Sure enough we were able to spend some time with the sheep, and were given a demonstration of sheep shearing, cow milking and dog handling. All good fun, and only NZ$16 apiece.
That evening I had a long soak in the geothermal pool (event hot in the rain) until I had to dash back inside to get changed for the trip to Tamaki village. A quick trip on a bus and our crowd were standing oustaide a formidable fortified Maori village. The bravest warrior performed a haka and our peace offering was accepted. We all trooped in (with the rain still coming down) and were treated to a culteral display of music, song and weapons displays. Then it was time for the taditional Maori feast: the Hangi. Food that had been cooking for the past 6 hours in various earth ovens was dug up, unwrapped and presented in the food hall. I was sitting opposite two newly weds and had a fine old time chatting about this and that. The meal was delicious and I would have gone up for more, but I ate too slowly and they were clearing plates by the time I was finishing. So I wandered outside for the informative talk about the preparation of the earth oven. After browsing through of the touristy shops, I settled on a wood carving place. The man in chage was a proper Maori wood carver and took the time to explain some of the meaning behind the fcial tattoos (moko) and their associated wood face masks. Without going into details here it has left me with a desire to learn much more about the Maori culture."