Merry Christmas

Christmas Day, 2007

Merry Christmas everyone. It has been three days since our last posting to this blog. We last posted in Paihia where we located an internet café with a high-speed capability. Today we are somewhat at the mercy of the hotel as we are going to attempt to call Japan and wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy Birthdays.

Weirdly enough, Japan is 4 hours behind us now on the international clock. It must have something to do with NZ being so far south that we must have several timelines all bunched up here. We set up a Skype internet phone account just prior to leaving home and tested it a few times so we should be able to accomplish a call. If you don’t get a call from us, it will be due to technical difficulties along with Georganna and Tom yelling at each other due to technical difficulties. We are also going to call Janis and Jennifer tomorrow as we are 22 hours ahead of them.

Wow!! Yesterday we drive to the Waitomo Glowworm caves. We took a walking tour down into the limestone cave 250 ft below the surface. Tom pushed Thelma in the wheelchair almost a mile. We saw stalactites, stalagmites, dripping water, an underground river, little worms with blue lights on their butts, the whole shebang. Then we pressed on through some very beautiful rolling hills and farmlands to Rotorua, and after a brief respite, we were picked up at our hotel and transported to an authentic replica Maori village for a cultural exhibition. It was very interesting as the tribe danced and sang while we took several photos, some of which we will attempt to post here. The Maori warriors were covered in tattoos on their face and hips. Some of the warriors had their entire face covered. The women wore tattoos around their mouths and down their chin. Part of the exhibition was a demonstration of the weapons used by the warriors and how they were used. While I was sitting watching us, I recalled the scene with Harrison Ford in the first Indiana Jones movie where the Arabic warrior performed his two-sword bravado, then Indiana Jones pulled out his pistol and shot him. After the exhibition, we had an authentic Maori feast provided for us, followed by a nighttime tour of the Kiwi research and preserve. Tres Magnifique!

We now stay two nights in Rotorua, which is located pretty much in the midpoint of the North Island, also known as the Bay of Plenty. There are geo-thermal springs and geysers here, so today is meant to be a relaxation day. We have reservations at a Polynesian Spa. Mom has commented she may enjoy a massage, and tom is always up for a massage so we may just veg here all day. Another option is to explore some of the thermal hot springs and geysers.

I guess that’s all for now, we’ll talk to you again soon.

TGT in NZ
Merry Christmas