New Zealand (stray) - Raglan to Maketu

NEW ZEALAND
Stray bus
Raglan to Maketu via Waitomo
Day 2 24/10/12

'Depart from Auckland at 7am. We head south travelling towards the mighty Waikato. Pick up your free cultural experience (kumara) to keep or have for dinner. We head on to the world-renowned Raglan surf beach, with cow spotting and a walk to the majestic Bridal Veil Falls on the way. Chill out or go hard in this funky surf and arts town.'

First acitivity of the day is going down into some caves. People can either to a paid activity or go for a free walk/wonder about town. Today's activity was caving. We spent a good 2 hours down in the caves. Although it was very cold even through the wetsuit and got quite demanding, it was a good experience. The glow worms from inside the cave were amazing.

below: the map of the cave

below: a brief stop to a look at a waterfall and here is the stray bus

below: the beach near the Maori centre

below: that evening we stay at a Maori village to learn about their culture. We are treated to a delicious lamb dinner, after the caving we make the most of this! Afterwards we go into the special hall to see their dance. We have to elect a chief amongst us strayers - the oldest man. Luckily this wasn't me as the chief has to stand still while Maori people dance menacingly upto him!

below: the guys go off to learn the Maori 'haka' dance. And the girls learn their own dance too. After a good hours practice the girls do their dance.

below: post dance. Us guys aren't naked by the way, we are wearing the traditional skirt! It was a good experience and we took it seriously, we were keen to practice as much as possible as it was quite hard. Luckily we got to practice in the kitchen so could have a few beers to get our confidence up!