Making the most of a quick weekend trip

We decided to make a weekend of having to drive 3hrs south of Auckland to Rotorua for the RANZCOG ceremony some weekends ago. By the way, the first and only other time we'd been to Rotorua was for the two weeks of MIQ* when we first landed in NZ almost 2 yrs ago. The Redwood Tree Walk. Over 25metres off the ground. The kids enjoyed it.

We paid a visit to the hotel where we stayed for 2wks of quarantine. The kids reminisced about looking out the windows at the park below that they got to actually enjoy this time. We didn't realize how close we were to all the restaurants and shops of Rotorua because of how small our world was during that time. Lake Rotorua looked beautiful from the window, but even more beautiful up close.

Te Puia Geyser and Maori cultural tour.

The Maori Arts and Crafts Institute is a way that tribes from all over the country can continue to learn and then teach the ancient arts of wood working, bone carving and weaving. Colonization sought to eradicate language and art but many years ago, once the Crown realized that the novelty of the Maori culture inspired tourism, thus bringing in money, it became financially beneficial for them to allow the indigenous to maintain their culture. What a twisted thing, but the Maori are resilient and regardless of how it happens, they are proud to maintain and rejuvinate their culture now and into the future.

We weren't allowed to take pictures of the live Kiwi due to their intolerance of flash, but it was very cool to see them in action and to learn of the ways this institute is working to get them off the endangered species list

The mud pit. The mud is used for many medicinal, cosmetic and therapeutic purposes. You wouldn't want to fall in!

One thing we love about New Zealand is that there is the opportunity for adventure around every corner, and the majority of the natural wonders available to us every day are free to access.

* MIQ= Managed Isolation Quarantine