A Thermal Village

By Mary

Today we went to a Maori village. We went with a Tour Guide, he was funny. The Maori village was different because it was a thermal village and the people live there!

The village was right on a volcano so there were Guysers and little hot springs everywhere. They were bubbling hot and steaming. One of the pools was large and the Maroi people use it everyday as an oven. They cook veggies, eggs and fish in it. Plus it did not have a bottom! They put food in a bag and tie it to a rope. They tie the other end to a rock that is put on the edge of the pool. They cook it for 5-10 minutes. A meal cooked in the hot pool is called a Hangi.

In a cafe there were neat meat pies. The pies included veggies that were cooked in the hot pool. It was very hot. We saw outdoor baths that were very neat. They had warm silky water.

We also went to a Maori concert. It was beautiful. The dancers made some strange, interesting faces. I think it was part of the expression of their words. You will get to see a dance or two in this short clip that I filmed.

A yellow rock called sulphur made the village smell like rotten eggs and I don't think I would like to live in a thermal village.