Me and Jen walked around the harbor and caught up on the past five weeks of each other's lives before meeting up with our Topdeck tour bus! Our guide, Lana, is from the South Island of New Zealand and I can already tell I'll like her sense of humor and laid back personality. There are 16 of us on the trip including me, Jen, 1 other American, 1 Canadian, 1 Spaniard, 1 Frenchman, 1 Malaysian, 1 Scandinavian, 1 Irish woman, and the rest coming from various parts of Australia.
We drove about 2.5 hours out of Auckland to Rotorua and spent the rest of our day and evening with a thriving Maori tribe. It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to be welcomed into their sacred meeting house, served a traditional Maori dinner, and given the opportunity to see their cultural dances and songs used to pass stories down through generations. They emphasized that this is an honor for both parties: they don't share their space with anyone except family (which they now considered us to be), but they are thankful to be able to bring new energy and people to appreciate their traditions. As we got ready for bed (we all had a big slumber party in the ancient meeting house), one of the tribe leaders told us stories about the relationship their people have with the Kiwis and the struggles they endure to keep their culture and land alive and authentic Maori. Today was a wonderful way to start our New Zealand adventures, rich in history and tradition and bringing the 16 of us together in friendship right off the bat.
The wifi on the Topdeck bus is not the strongest, so I apologize if blog posts and communication of any sort are few and far between. I'll do my best! Love you all. Xoxo
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