Glowworms, Geysers, and Grrrs (AKA the Maori Haka)

Years ago I saw a picture of a glowing New Zealand cave in an in-flight magazine.  Due to the stunning images, "visit a glow worm cave in New Zealand" quickly found its way on my travel bucket list.  When we left Auckland, we stopped at the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, where I was able to check off this amazing sight!

Before getting to the glow worms, we saw beautiful cave formations.

We also saw fossilized shells, left in the cave walls from when the water flowed through at much higher levels.

The glow worm, also known as Arachnocampa luminosa, is a species that is unique to New Zealand.  The worms attach to surfaces in these pitch-black caves and drop down sticky threads.  A chemical reaction produces a glowing blue light that attracts small bugs, who are ensnared in the sticky threads and eaten by the glow worms.  The glow worms can only exist in caves with water running through them (since the water brings in the bugs they eat).  In the picture below, you can see the threads from the glow worms along the cave.

Trying to photograph the glowing worms was as difficult as trying to photograph the fireflies in Kuala Selangor.  Our pictures don't fully capture the ethereal beauty of pitch-black caves lit up by tiny, glowing blue worms.  It was really breathtaking.

After our tour of the caves, the boys enjoyed an energetic visit to the nearby playground.....I love their faces in this photo.

From Waitomo, we drove on to Rotorua, where we'd be spending the next few days.  One of the first places we visited was Kerosene Creek, which is a natural hot spring that is free to visit and swim in.  

We soaked in different spots that were different temperatures, and we really enjoyed this natural, non-commercialized spot.

We also walked through "downtown" Rotorua and along the lakefront.  

We visited Ohinemutu, which is a "living village" that is home to Maori people.  It was pretty quiet there, more like a neighborhood than a village of its own, but it was worth the visit.  This was one of the community buildings with ornately carved wooden designs.

The village has geothermal springs, just below ground, which are used by the families for heating and cooking.  You could see steam coming out of grates on the sides of the roads and all throughout the area.  Even the sidewalks were warm because of the geothermal waters just beneath them.

St. Faith's Church is well known for its strong Maori influence, visible in the interior decorations.

Especially beautiful was the window etched with an image of Jesus wearing a Maori cloak...and he appears to be walking on water.

That afternoon, all the boys went kayaking in Lake Okareka, which was about a 5 minutes' walk from our rental house.  The boys love kayaking with Dadada back in Florida, so getting to kayak with him in New Zealand was a real treat for them.

It was a pretty overcast afternoon, but that didn't stop the boys from swimming in the c-o-l-d lake.

They also did a bit of schoolwork with Dadada, who had made a great effort to prepare science-based lessons for them.  The boys definitely preferred his lessons to ours, that's for sure.

The next day, we went to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, which is a more elaborate Maori "living village" (and one that is more geared toward tourists' visits).  The sign in red shows the entire Maori name for the village--what a mouthful!

Our guide walked us through the village and explained the buildings and the ways of life of the Maori people who live there.  There were geothermal pools bubbling up everywhere.

This pool is used by the residents for cooking--they put bags into the geothermal pools to steam their food.

They also use these community steam boxes to cook meals.  Our lunch was a traditional Hangi meal, cooked in one of these boxes--it was tasty!

The meeting house for the residents had the beautifully ornate wooden carvings that we had seen elsewhere.

These are some of the bathing pools that are still used by the community.

And this is the preschool!

We saw the Pohutu geyser, which erupts once or twice every hour.  The gushing geothermal waters reach up to 100 feet (30 meters) in the air.

One of the highlights of our visit was a cultural performance which included traditional Maori songs,  games, and dances.

It also included the infamous Maori haka--the war dance that was used to get Maori warriors ready for battle.  The bulging eyes and facial expressions are part of the traditional dance.

Sometimes it's hard to know what's real and what's put on for tourists, but the haka we saw that day was the same as those performed in Te Matatini, which is a New Zealand annual festival and haka competition (which I happened to see on TV a week later).  So that made me feel good that what we saw was an accurate representation of a traditional haka, not something created just for tourists.  Here's a short clip of what we saw!

Our visit to Whakarewarewa was informative and entertaining--all in all, a great day!

With that, it was time to move on....Dadada and the boys had proclaimed themselves the "Backseat Boys", so it was back in the van they went...

Moorhouses and Murrays on the Move! First stop: Auckland, New Zealand

After a great time in Melaka, we said goodbye to Malaysia and SE Asia, took a bus to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and boarded an overnight flight to Auckland, New Zealand.  Bob snapped this picture of "me as pillow" while the boys and I tried to get some sleep. 

We stopped on the Gold Coast of Australia before continuing on to Auckland.  New Zealand is quite strict on what can be brought into the country, so just getting through customs took over an hour.  We watched customs officers digging through suitcases and, after having our questionable items inspected (namely, a few shells from Thailand), we finally exited the airport in late afternoon.

A funny first moment in New Zealand was when, at dinner, the waitress brought a pitcher of tap water to our table.  We were all a bit stunned--partially at the realization that we could safely drink tap water again, and partially because it was brought to us without asking and free of charge (2 years of living in Europe has made us quite unaccustomed to this).  As Emmett excitedly said, "I'm going to drink tap water just for the heck of it!!!"  It's the little things in life.

The next morning, we picked up a rental car and then met these great people when they arrived the airport.....for the next 5 weeks, it's Moorhouses AND Murrays on the move!

We settled in at a great rental house and took a day to relax and recuperate from long flights and jet lag (especially for Mom and Dad, who travelled for more than 24 hours from the US).  We planned this phase of our trip--when my Mom and Dad would travel with us through New Zealand and into Australia--almost an entire year ago.  It was hard to believe the time had finally come!

For the rest of our stay in Auckland, we walked a lot in the city and saw some very British-looking buildings.  Some of these included Town Hall, a Gothic-style church, and the historic Ferry Terminal, with its red gate, at Queens Wharf along the waterfront.

There were lots of people outside, including in these great bean bags set out on a green space between office buildings.

We visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which had great exhibits on the Maori people (the indigenous people of New Zealand).  This war canoe was carved from a single tree, and the decorative detail was quite impressive.

This was a wall weaving within a traditional Maori building, a replica of which was in the museum.

There were also well-done exhibits on New Zealand's natural and military history.

The second floor of the museum is dedicated to remembering those who have died in military service to New Zealand.  The stained glass and statue below were particularly beautiful.

The Auckland Domain (the park in which the War Memorial Museum sits) was preparing for a Chinese Lantern festival as part of Chinese New Year celebrations.

We came back to the Auckland Domain for the first evening of the festival in order to see the lanterns lit up in the dark.  Unfortunately it started raining on us, but we were able to see a few of the displays before we called it and headed home.

Our visit to Auckland was a short one, but we were glad to experience this cosmopolitan city on the North Island.  It also made us eager to get on the road and start exploring more of New Zealand!

Don't Mess with Melaka!

This sign was one of the first things we saw when we arrived in Melaka, Malaysia, from Singapore.  It made us laugh every time we saw it--having lived in Texas for 4 years, it was pretty clear where Melaka got its inspiration (or perhaps Texas copied Melaka, since Melaka is older?).... 

We stayed at the Rucksack Caratel, whose lobby was designed to look like a campground.  There were tire swings, picnic tables, and "trailers" that doubled as rooms (ours was the one directly behind Colin).

Melaka is a fantastic city!  It is the oldest city in Malaysia, and it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  There was so much history and good food to keep us all interested and well fed.  The riverfront was a nice place to stroll, day and night.

The main sights center around Dutch Square, which has a number of salmon-colored buildings.  The old Stadthuys (City Hall) now houses a History & Ethnography Museum that was one of our first stops.

Inside, we learned all about the various periods of Melaka history, from its days as a sultanate through its rule by the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and then the Japanese occupation in WWII.

We visited Bukit St. Paul (St. Paul's Church & Hill), which is now in ruins but still pretty impressive. Just downhill of the church is also the last remaining pieces of A Famosa, which was built as a Portuguese fort in 1511.

We walked up and down Jonker Street, which had plenty of restaurants, cafés, and shops.  We thought this statue was pretty funny!

The architecture in Melaka is really diverse, thanks to the different nationalities that have both ruled and lived there.

Melaka has a large population who are the descendants of immigrants who came from China in the early 19th to mid-20th centuries.  Many of these Chinese immigrants married locals, and their culture became a mix of both Chinese and Malayan traditions.  These descendants are known as the Peranakan Chinese, the Straits-born Chinese, or the Baba-Nyonya.  We toured the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, which was located in a former Baba-Nyonya home.  It was absolutely beautiful and gave us a really good insight into the lifestyle and traditions of this population.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed except for in the entrance, but you can see the strong Chinese influence in the architecture and furnishings.

As a tourist in Melaka, it's pretty much required to take a nighttime ride in a trishaw.  The trishaws in Melaka are decorated like none other in Malaysia, and the drivers rock out by playing loud music as they pedal tourists around the main sights.

We visited the Melaka Sultanate Palace, which is a full-size replica of the original Sultan's Palace (which was built without any nails at all!)  We have learned that Malaysian museums really love 1.  Dioramas and 2. Displays with lots of text.  Some of it was a bit repetitive, but it was still an interesting visit.  We all voted the diorama of a meeting with the sultan as the best one in the museum.

We also went in the Flora de la Mar Maritime Museum, which was in a restored Portuguese ship.

Across the street was the Royal Malaysian Navy Museum, where the boys liked the big guns the best.

This laksa was our last in Malaysia and one of our most favorite.  Mmmmmmmm.....I can taste it again just by looking at this picture.

On Friday and Saturday nights, Jonker Street shuts down to cars and turns into a Night Market.  We wandered the street and munched our way from stall to stall, eating Thai mango and sticky rice, Chinese dumplings, Malaysian Char Kuey Teow.......Bob and I realized that this would be our last Asian street food opportunity, since from Melaka we were heading on to New Zealand.  We have had some fantastic meals and experiences in Asian streets--they really are the center of economic and social activity in this part of the world.

For the past 6 months, we've sweated our way through some fantastic places in Asia.  We've learned so much from the diverse histories, cultures, and people in this part of the world!  There have been a few things we didn't like, but so many more things that we did.  Asia has made us more adventurous travelers, it's challenged our preconceived ideas about previously unknown countries, and it's "checked off" some places we've always wanted to visit (but added even more for our future travels).  Goodbye for now, Asia!  And on to Australasia we go!