Day 4- Ducks, Sheep, and Maori Culture

Morning:

This morning when we woke up there was a beautiful sunrise.  It was gorgeous.  It was right over the lake and steam was coming off the lake and out of the mountains. There were birds flying everywhere and there were a lot sitting on the sulfur flat. I didn't want it to end.  We don't get a lot of views like that at home.   

World War II Duck

After we looked at the sunrise we went on a Duck Tour.  We got into World War II vehicles that could drive on the road and go in the water.  We heard about some of the legends/myths that are associated with some of the lakes and it was very interesting.  I like to hear those kinds of stories.  We heard one story about two lovers crossing the lake to see each other and there was another where some people saw Maori people in a waka(boat) and it is supposed to be an omen for bad luck.  Then a few days later, the volcano erupted.  We also learned about some of the houses around the lakes.  Very awesome tour. 

Carved House

The ducks then dropped us off at the Maori Village.  I was really excited about this.  We got to learn a little about their language and some famous/important people to the Maori village.  In the village there was a carved house and it was really interesting because our tour guide explained to us that each piece of the house represented something and they were made to resemble a person.  There are baths and mud pools that use the thermal energy in the village.  They even cook with the thermal heat.  It was really amazing to hear about their culture. 

Afternoon:

This afternoon we went to the Agrodome.  There we saw sheep, cows, ducks, dogs, and rabbits.  They showed us a lot of different kinds of sheep and they were all displayed.  Then the host shaved one of the sheep as a demonstration.  Then a few people went up to milk a cow.  We also got to see some dogs heard some ducks and sheep.  There were also little baby goats and sheep.  They were really cute.  I liked the Agrodome a lot more than I thought I would. 



After that we got to go ogoing!  I actually didn't do it though because I didn't have my swimsuit and I thought that it was a little cold to do it.  It looked really cool though.  It is a big ball with a smaller one inside and they fill the inner one with a little bit of warm water then they go down the hill.  It was a really cool idea.  They also had a stationary one.  It was fun even though I didn't do it. 





Stationary ogo

Dinner tonight was really cool.  We got to have a hangi dinner and see a little show.  We saw some dances and songs.  The guys got to try the haka and the girls got to dance a little.  The food was really good. They had some food that was the same as American food, but there was some that was really different too.  It was a very good day.  I am glad that we got to do so much.