Te Puke

We were supposed to go skiing today and explore the Tongariro national park for a three-day tour, but there is a slight change of plan, as usual...

Since i've planned to leave in a couple of days to another town, my houseparents have decided that they are gonna throw a 'Hangi' party for all of us...a Hangi is a traditional Maori Feast that is put up whenever there is some kinda celebration going on or when they want to honour a visiting guest...i would like to think that they are not celebrating of my departure but rather to let me experience the Maori culture, as ive mentioned to them before that i would like to try the Hangi one day...It is a real blessing staying in with a Maori family that i get to experience the real maori lifestyle instead of some commercialized village showcasing Maori people to the tourist...Like the one in Rotorua where they charge $20 per entry just to put on a show for you...im experiencing the real deal right now, for free...

so we are to have the feast tomorrow at lunch time where they will dig up a hole and buried the prepared food underneath the groud...a fire will then be lighted up on top of the soil and the food will be cooked with the heat generated...that's the whole idea from a theoretical point of view...ive only seen it on discovery channel to be quite honest...will describe more after tomorrow...

We went shopping earlier with Ada and Reg and i managed to buy some thermal underwears, pantyhose, scarf and beanie, for my skiing trip...ive never put on a pantyhose before, and ive always thought that only gals wear them, so when i told my kiwi friends such, they laughed and said that i will be freezing as hell if i dont put them on...it will be weird wearing tights underneath my pants, but i'll get used to it...

ive also bought a hot water bottle to keep myself warm, and right now im sure im ready to challenge the skiing field...it cant be that cold, right? I'll survive...

another plan diversion is that i think i wont be bringing my car down to south island...ive just checked on the ferry ticket online and it is a whopping $225, just to bring the car accross Cook Straits...such daylight robbery...so the tentative idea is to sell the car here, and get another one down in south island, i really need a car in south island, too many places to go to that is off the beated track...i aspire to grab lotsa breathtaking pictures for your viewing pleasure...

I will need to find a job soon after my skiing trip, as the ski resorts offer only expensive and more expensive packages...not to mention about hiring skiing gears and the lift service up the mountain...alot of money is involved here...

But it will be worthwhile...



Kiwi fruit orchard (i tried picking kiwi fruit for three days)