NZ Day 7 Matamata/Rotorua

Day 7 These pictures are from the farm in Matamata where we stayed the night before and had dinner, as well as from Day 7 when we were in Rotorua.  In Matamata, we had a wonderful dinner at Workmans Cafe.  For such a small town, this restaurant was described to us as the most "upscale" restaurant in the town and it lived up to that reputation for a foodie from Chicago. :)  We had battered vegetables and a lovely steak that had a very different taste than the beef I am used to.  It was delicious, however, and we wondered if it was a fresher, grass-fed variety than the more processed meat we get in the states.  The owner of the restaurant also convinced me to try a sparkling elderflower drink that was very tasty!

In Rotorua, we visited Te Puia, described as a Māori Arts and Crafts center.  The Māori are the original settlers to the New Zealand area.  Also at Te Puia were thermal geysers and mud pots, similar to Yellowstone, which I happened to visit for the first time last summer.  In the evening, we attended a Māori hangi feast and show, featuring traditional food and dance.  This was our last full day in New Zealand, and we enjoyed this immersion into the culture of the area.  Another way we felt like native Kiwis, as New Zealanders call themselves, was that we rented a car and drove on the "wrong" side of the road! ;)  It did take some getting used to, I'll have to admit, yet it felt like an accomplishment to be able to say I was able to navigate the roads over there.... even if we had to chant "stay to the left, stay to the left" every time we turned and we accidentally turned on the windshield wipers each time we meant to turn on the turn signal (all the controls on the car were reversed as well :)! 

All in all, I loved New Zealand (and Australia for that matter).  I'd be happy to go back at any time (hint, hint to any friends thinking of going ;).  The people were so friendly everywhere we went, the cities clean, the activites fun and the landscapes and views breathtaking.  Though I'll blog one more day on our stop in Fiji, I'll leave New Zealand blogging behind with a bit of trivia... this is a place in New Zealand that's name is "the longest word for a place in an English-speaking country"... in Māori:  Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu. Click here for the next post in this journey :)