Hanging at the hāngī function
Plus rainforests and spas
Top of mind
I believe we’re about at the halfway mark for New Zealand and we’re also near done with North Island before we head further south. I keep forgetting that it’s spring here and I’m often surprised to see trees blooming.
I’m finding my groove a bit more with this crew. I am pretty sure the mystery duo are a couple. Must remind myself to drink more water and eat a salad on this trip.
Jeans status: rainforested and slightly sweet and sour sauced.
10/17
We did our first real nature walk at Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park, a prehistoric rainforest that felt slightly Pandora-esque. We were guided by a local Māori who explained all the types of trees and related traditions, like which trees were used to carve out wakas (canoes), which leaves tasted like pepper (horopito), and were encouraged to touch everything as the forest had both no predators nor irritable plants. We ate our leaves and removed our socks and shoes for a forest bath (clothes stayed on otherwise) which was perfectly quiet and no discussion of best slices in Park Slope were had.
In the afternoon we went to a man-made pine forest from the 1930s and examined some wall writings from around 640 AD and it made me feel like Indiana Jones so that was pretty great. Later on David (CEO) mentioned that he is spiritually gifted and felt a presence at the carving site and I think that is really cool that he could pick up on that.
A majority of the group signed up for a geothermal spa day so I am writing to you with the butteriest of buttery skin and smelling mildly of sulfur. TIL there are hay saunas and salt saunas, which are saunas for horses and saltwater fish. Kidding! I believe the salt was to benefit skin and hay was to benefit allergies. We followed these with a ice bath which we all equated to the ice bucket challenge but for mindfulness and rejuvenation. Then we hit up the geothermal baths, remember in Pokemon Ruby when you receive the Wyanaut egg in the bath from Lavaridge Town? That was the vibe. Though the egg here was in scent only. We wrapped with a mud bath, another first for me, and fin.
What I ate
Today the food hit especially hard because we had hāngī which is a feast of smoked meats and vegetables cooked underground and typically eaten for special family events like a wedding or funeral or birthday. Cuisine wise it’s similar to american thanksgiving sans turkey and my plate was full of pork, chicken, variety of potatoes, pumpkin, stuffing, and heavenly fried bread. Banger after banger after banger. Absolute stunner of a meal.
I chased this with more hokey pokey ice cream after the hotel and nearly spilled a cones’ worth of caramel syrup atop a child running around the ice cream parlor.
After the spa we walked over to McDonald’s for a late night bite and I of course had another ice cream, a “cookie time” McFlurry, a “Texas style” burger and McPopcorn chicken essentially. Unfortunately it was not hāngī though we did eat communally and that’s what Maccas is all about.
What’s next
I believe today is a Kiwi farm, a famous pie shop, then a flight to South Island for Christchurch.
