BLOGLET SIX - September 2006

The earth is really quite strange isn't it? Under our feet, usually a long way down, there are hot gases and rocks. This week we went to Rotorua and there the crust of the earth is quite thin and so the gases are very close to the surface. I could look out of my hotel window and see smoke rising all around and it wasn't from fires. It was just steam from the hot water beneath the ground. Later we went to a place where you could have a mud bath. It is very good for the skin but I only put a little bit on my face. It was funny seeing Ev and Richard covered in mud.

The first people who came to New Zealand were called Maori and some of them settled near Rotorua. Their ancestors still live here and we watched a show they did. They wear clothes from a long time ago. They sand some songs and danced and the women played with a ball on a piece of string called a Poi. It was very clever what they did with it. Some of the little children tried too. I think they will be better at it when they grow older. It looked very difficult. I didn't try as the string was longer than my legs.