13.06 Rotorua: Recreation & Re-Creation

When Jean and I recently visited Rotorua , we were told by some Kiwis that it had acquired a nickname, ‘Roto-Vegas’. Perhaps, but ‘Roto-Dells’ would be a better imported moniker. Kiwis, of course, haven’t heard of Wisconsin Dells or Cedar Point (in Ohio) or their likes -- family-oriented vacation destinations -- so they can hardly be blamed for the moniker some have chosen. For Kiwis ‘Las Vegas’ designates a destination city that has nothing to do, say, with commerce or government and everything to do with entertainment and adventure, both licit and illicit. As for Rotorua’s illicit traffic, I suspect it’s no worse than elsewhere. And, incidentally, if there are any casinos, they’re well hidden in Rotorua.

This big town or small city of about 60,000 people is geared to providing recreational opportunities to people of all ages. Click here for more info from the official website. In Rotorua you'll find a range of venues offering family fun, adventures & thrills, spas, Māori cultural excursions, and so forth. There seem to be scores of motels, numerous hotels, and the requisite youth hostel to accommodate visitors, many from abroad but even more from New Zealand. Rotorua is somewhat off-center in the North Island and by some accounts it is the single most popular vacation and holiday destination for Kiwis. The proliferation of motels is an index of Rotorua’s role as a family-friendly destination. In Kiwiese a lodge called a ‘motel’ provides a kitchenette in every room (whereas a hotel is unlikely to provide kitchenettes). Frugal travelers flock to the motels.

Rotorua (meaning ‘second lake’) sits on the edge of Lake Rotorua, which is the flooded caldera of an old volcano. The lake was the second lake discovered by a Māori chief, whose people established a settlement on the lake's edge. This thermally active area affords a range of hot mud pools, geysers, steam vents, highly mineralized waters, and so forth. The area continues to witness occasional volcanic eruptions, the last major one being in 1886, when three villages were buried. The geothermal activity has drawn the curious and the health-seekers for many years. In the early 20^th Century New Zealand's government decided to make its first investment in a tourist destination anywhere in New Zealand. A bathhouse was erected in 1908 at Rotorua to a design that wouldn’t be out of place in a Harry Potter movie (See here).  While the bathhouse has become Rotorua's municipal museum, spas have proliferated. In certain parts of the city, motels offer their guests access to private bathing rooms where pools of rather warm mineralized waters provide respite from aches and pains. These waters can have a soporific effect, which is perhaps one reason why I saw a sign advising people against remaining alone in a pool (lest they be lulled asleep and then drown).

While we enter certain recreations for comfort and rejuvenation (like the baths or walks in the wood), it seems — as elsewhere in the world — more often Kiwis are seeking amusement (games and diversions), personal growth (I can climb that mountain, overcome my fear of X, Y, or Z), or communal participation (dancing, group singing, cultural enrichment, team sports). Recreational goals, of course, can overlap. Someone playing rugby football can do it for diversion, for personal growth, and to more fully participate in a community. By the way, I hope to devote a blog post to New Zealand team sports, but only after attending at least a rugby match (rugby being New Zealand’s preeminent team sport). Except perhaps for competitive biking or waterskiing, folks flocking to Rotorua don’t do so to view or participate in team sports. They come because of the wide availability of recreations concentrated in a small area. There’s something for everyone, as it were, and it’s readily accessible to North Islanders and (less readily) to South Islanders. Rotorua has prospered as a ‘fun-for-everyone city’, not as ‘you-name-your-sin city’.

Why did Jean and I travel to Rotorua? Well, as it turns out the Māori calendar is a lunar calendar and the Māori observe the Lunar New Year in February (as do others). Rotorua has a number of establishments run by different Māori iwi (iwi  = tribe, kinship group, etc.). Jean figured that there might be a number of special Māori events associated with the New Year’s observance. And because so many Māori iwi run culturally-focused establishments in Rotorua, it seemed like a good place and a good time to head there.

There may have been special events, but by God’s providence we signed up for what turned out to be a wonderful evening at Te Puia (in Rotorua). We signed up for something called the Te Pō Combo. The combo included participation in a Māori welcoming ceremony and associated activities, participating in a Māori feast, and visiting the geothermal activities in the valley behind the main establishment.

The welcoming ceremony was addressed to the fictive ‘tribe’ of the 70 to 90 people from all over the world who’d decided to participate in the Te Pō Combo that day. Incidentally there were large numbers of East Asians, especially Koreans, who had come to New Zealand for their Lunar New Year holidays. One of the bunch, an Italian, was designated by our Māori guide as our ‘chief’. On our behalf the ‘chief’ reciprocated the welcome offered to us by the Māori ‘chief’ who welcomed us. Of course the Māori who welcomed us were Māori performers (presumably mostly from the iwi that conceived, owned, and runs the Te Puia establishment). Following the welcome, our ‘tribe’ entered the iwi’s wharenui (wharenui = community house), with its elaborate carvings. In the wharenui we watched and participated in the iwi’s kapa haka (kapa haka = performing arts). If you’ve ever seen the New Zealand All Blacks (the national rugby team) prepare for a game (See here), you’ve seen a pre-combat haka. Other kapa haka are more invocatory, others are celebratory, and all (apparently) have spiritual significance.

But the iwi didn’t let things rest there. Our visiting ‘tribe’ was escorted to another building, where everyone sat down at assigned tables and subsequently partook of a superb Māori meal. As it happens our table included a couple from North Carolina, a young Swedish lady, and the Korean-Kiwi tour guides of the Korean tourists. We had a delightful conversation over delightful food. What more could we have asked for — other than a prayer. And a prayer was offered at the onset of our meal, a practice which the Māori (overwhelmingly Christian) are able to do in a way that is otherwise not found at Kiwi public events. Perhaps the Māori are such great hosts (as they were this evening) precisely because they openly welcome and thank God.

The evening’s finale was a visit to Te Whakarewarewa Valley, where the Pohutu Geyser spouted off. By the time our ‘tribe’ arrived, it was twilight and considerably cooler, cool enough to warrant long sleeves and sweaters. As a waxing crescent moon hung overhead and the stars began to glimmer, we were served hot chocolate. The chocolate helped keep us warm but in its small way it mimicked the thermal activity we were witnessing. More than being entertained, our hosts had allowed us to be enriched and enveloped, looking skyward and earthwards to a Power greater than any or all of us. This was a delight. This was a gift. Recreation can be sought. But re-creation happens when we are found and found not wanting, but made anew. We had a small taste of that in this evening of engagement, delectation, and inspiration, all that could be humanly provided and then some -- provided elsewise and from beyond. Thanks be to our hosts. And thanks be to God.

We had a blessed stay in Rotorua.

Warm regards,
Tim & Jean

PS. Jean and I hope to rectify the communications shortcomings that effectively prevent our uploading photos into this blog. Standby... but don't hold your breath.