Sarah W

Jan 15th was this past week...the official halfway point in our journey. I can't believe we've done so much in so little time. It must be the extra 4 hours of daylight we have in this counrty as oppsed to the US. This past weeekend was probably my most favorite weekend so far. On friday night, we went to Rotorua and stayed at a Morai. They made us dinner that was so good. It was cooked in a pit in the ground, so all the food had a really delicious earthy flavor. The best part was probably the stuffing. I'll have to find out that secret recipe. That night, we all slept in the meetinghouse on matresses on the floor. It was a lot of fun. The next day, we started off the morning going to a sheep show. It was kind of random. Who knew there were so many different kinds of sheep? After that we stopped by the zorb place and a couple people did that. When we went back to Rotorua, I went to the Polynesian Spa and soaked in one of the natureal hotpool. It was so relaxing. After a while, the smell didn't even bother me. It felt so much cleaner than a normal hottub. Even though Cookie said we would stink after we got out, I didn't think I smelled that bad (maybe other people would beg to differ?). We stayed in a really nice motel that night. The next day was supposed to be our White Island adventure, but the seas proved to be too rough. We went to Mt Maunganui instead and spent the morning exploring the rocks and shores. I took a ton of pictures.
So far, out of all the geology we've done, I think that Hot Water Beach was the most fun. As a geology novice, I don't really understand/remember half of what we learn in class and out on our trips. Hot Water Beach was nice because it was less abstract. Being able to put my feet in the hot water was a good way to remember what Art told us about the beach. As for culture, I think our tour guide at Waitangi, Will, did an excellent job of talking about Maori culture. He was such a cool guy. The beach at Mt Maunganui was a really good place to see all different kinds of shells and it was cool that Doug was able to identify so many of them for us.
Another highlight of last week was the LOTR tour me Kelly and Megan went on. It was so cool! (spoken like a true fan)