This morning, we had a great day experiencing the natural beauty of the area surrounding Rotorua. The duck tour in the morning to various lakes in the area showed us how differently New Zealand views its natural habitat as opposed to America. New Zealand view nature as a much more sacred aspect of life, as it creates national parks rather than preserve only small parts that are left of it. New Zealand has stories behind its many lakes that relate back to its early ancestors' cultures. The Maori people treated their surroundings as sacred areas. We saw through the cold, wet, and wind the differences in New Zealand between all their natural lakes. The surrounding areas were beautiful and unique and demonstrated the connection New Zealand has to its natural beauty.
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In the afternoon we got to see how the Maori people were able to utilize nature in order to survive. The thermal village of Whaka gave us all an in depth look at the lifestyle of some of the Maori people. The fact that the town still is functioning with little interference from the government shows the respect this country has for their natives. This is different from tyhe way the America government had treated our natives, as we displaced them from their land whereas New Zealanders let things be. I learned about the Maori lifestyle and how they were able to live off the land, in addition to the way the Maori were able to use the hot springs in order to adapt an amazing ability to survive. We also saw the modern dependency on sheep at the Agrodome and the strenuous task that is involved in shearing sheep. To cap off the day, we got to enjoy the thrill of Ogo-ing down a mountain.
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