Wet n' Wild in New Zealand

 Continuing from our many adventures I must say it has been outrageous! We spent a majority of our 20th day in NZ traveling to Rotorua. On our way, we made a few stops, one in particular was in a quaint little town, Taihape, known for its famous gumboot throwing competition. Upon arrival, we went to the throwing court and each of us got a chance to break the record of throwing a rubber boot, I failed due to it being slippery. Later in the evening, we made it to our lodge and relaxed in the hot pool until dinner. For dinner, we traveled to Tamaki Brothers Maori village for a real Maori culture experience. We arrived to the village and we greeted by the people with their ritual introductions. Eventually, we made our way in the village and got a chance to learn about some of their traditions, which was very cool! We proceeded to the dining room where we were entertained by some song and dance and story telling. Then began our feast which we learned was cooked in the ground which gave the food an awesome, smokey taste. Afterwards we got to wonder a bit more and were dismissed by the amazing haka, a chant that only the men do and also the NZ rugby team does before each match.
As for the next day, a majority of it was spent in water. Our first stop was to Hells Gate, a popular attraction for its natural thermal pools. This place was so cool and rich in sulfur smell. We spent some time in the mud baths and relaxed in some more hot pools. Once we rinsed off we got to take a walk and explore all of the natural springs. Some of these pools got up to 122 degrees celcius! It was definitely an awesome first spa experience for me. After lunch we went white water rafting, which was crazy considering it has just rained a lot the night before (and I was the only one to not fall off our raft :) We all had an awesome time and views were awesome. I also learned that the movie 'Without a Paddle' was filmed on the river we were on.
Now day 22 was one of the most memorable. We went hydro zorbing, which for those of you who don't know what that is, you basically slip into a giant rubber hamster ball filled with water and roll down a hill. Fun? I think so! Later in the afternoon we made our way to Waitomo Caves where upon we black water rafted!!! This was an experience like no other. We began by repelling 120 meters under then ground, then zip lined in the pitch black and jump off ledges into dark (COLD) waters and floated down the cavern looking up at the glow worms, and it really looked like a midnight sky, on top of this we slid and climbed water falls. Yes, I highly recommend this!! Welp, that's all for now! Be home very shortly!!