Maori

This is a maori village in the North Island called whakarewarewa. Most of the North Island is thermal active. Auckland city is built on 20 volcanoes. The natives loved it here because it was an easy way of life. They still live here as you can see. although they also do tours of the place. The first is of the dancers who put on a show for us. The little boy was amazing! The next is of the thermal pools. In the evenings they come down to bath as most do not have running water in the house or did not until recently. it is a way of life that they all live, bath, and cook together. The last is of a hungi (meal cooked in steam) there are lots of these boxes around the village and they all put their meats and potatoes in it and cover it for the day and let the thermal steam cook it. The houses are now heated by steam as well. They cook the corn by putting the corn right into a geyser pool for 20 minutes. We tried some and it was great! The minerals make the flavor come out! there are spots you walk on down the streets here where your feet get hot. The homes are literally built between pools and geysers. It is so close to the surface that it makes the gravel in spots almost too hot to stand on.