Bus Trip

Day two of the Marae visit had us walk through town to the museum.  I would have preferred to stay at the Marae at Ohinemutu beside the lake because it was a still morning with just enough light behind the cloud to look interesting.  Our Museum has an extensive section that traces the history of the Maori people in our area from when they first settled up to the present day.  There are several wonderful carvings that have been returned to Rotorua after being in other museums.  We had time to grab a coffee and then it was onto a bus for a trip around Lake Rotorua  visiting landmarks that are important to Te Arawa.  We passed 20 Marae and most have carved wharenui (meeting house ) and whare kai, (dinning rooms)  I don't even try to remember the history for each one but there is an over view in our booklet.  I think the point of today was to remind us that our pupils live in an area rich in cultural history.
The main image is the lake viewed from the slopes of Mt Ngongotaha and the Pukepoto urupa (cemetery) is just to the right behind the fence.  The extra is a carving and kowhaiwahi  patterns on the Tunohopu house where we were based.