Auckland, , Nov. 1

We were scheduled for a bus tour leaving the ship at 7:30. The ship's schedule came out and, because of the Auckland Marathon being run along the dock, it would be 10:30 before busses other than Princess busses would be allowed on the dock. Panic!

Joyce, who set this all up, managed to email Des, the tour operator, and everything was worked out – we would meet Des a couple of blocks from the docks. We were worried about a long hike, but it turned out to be a shorter walk than just getting off the ship in Puerto Maya.

The day was intended to be very long to make up for the missed port at Christchurch. So off we went across the beautiful green hills and valleys south of Auckland. We stopped for tea in Matamata, known recently as Hobbittown. It is near where the movie scenes of the village in Lord of the Rings was filmed. The whole Lord of the Rings tourist industry is fading fast, but there are rumors that another film will be made and maybe that will revive the tourist trade.

We went to Rotorua, the cultural and tourist center by the lake. Motels everywhere, all of it nice clean, pretty, and quaint! Outside Rotorua is a geothermal area with geysers and steam vents smelling of sulfur. Half the geothermal area is occupied by a Maori village and the other half has been siezed by the government. Not halves, actually. The government took the big part right on the main highway. The village got the small part around back. What else would you expect?

Both halves run tours seeing the same geysers from opposite sides, but the village is the more interesting part. At the village entrance is an arch in memory of the villagers who were killed serving in WWI and WWII. Just past that, the kids were diving for coins in the river. The village is right in the midst of steam vents and hotwater pools, so the whole village is an attraction with shops and ethnic art studios. There is also a cultural show of the Haka (the fierce looking welcome dance) and singing. I think that the folks who go to the government side are missing the most interesting part.

We really enjoyed walking around the village and watching the show. Jack wanted to get into the baths!! They were much warmer than the hot tubs on the ship. There were about 8 tubs. The village people do communal bathing, nude, in the early morning and early evening.

There is a concrete plaza all around the tubs. That concrete was nicely warmed by the steam below it - very pleasant for a couple of kids to lie on during a chilly day. The Spa on the ship charges $125.00 for an hour to lie on their hot stone beds.

After a lunch and a drive through Rotorua, we were off to visit the glowworm caves. I was not expecting much, so I was pleasantly surprised. The caves are quite nice as caves go and the glowworms were pretty. Well, maybe not the worms – we didn't actually see them - but their light was pretty. The worms are small larvae that give off a blue light like fireflies do. Thousands live on the upper surfaces of the cave. They hang a short sticky thread down and give off light to attract flies or gnats which get stuck on the sticky threads and are eaten by the glowworms. Tourists ride a boat through the cave in darkness to see the lights. There are so many little blue lights that the effect is almost like moonlight. Little blue stars in a night sky, sort of. I would go again.

On the way back to the ship, we had a movie on the bus. It was “Whale Rider”, a story about a Maori girl. While the main theme – teenage Maori girl becomes a tribal chief – is unrealistic, the rest of the movie shows a fairly accurate depiction of Maori cultural concepts and daily life in modern times. It got at least one Oscar nomination – the girl for best actress. The bus driver said that when he saw the movie, he was in Australia with his rugby team, all of them big tough Maoris. They all went to the movie with a bunch of Australian rugby players. At the end of the movie, all the big tough Maoris were weeping and the Aussies were kidding them for being “a bunch of shielas”. Next time you rent a movie, consider this one.