How Kevin got his name.

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Happy Autumn Moon Festival!

Mom grabbed a copy of the paper to keep up with the royal news. 

Before heading out of Taupo, we took a look at the airplane McDonald's 

and had a bite before heading off. 

We wanted to see more of Lake Taupo and Huka Falls before heading out, but it was raining pretty hard. 

Arriving in Rotorua, we went to 

Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village. 

Throughout the tour, we stopped at the various geothermal pools/geysers that this area is known for. The sulfur makes a unique (kind of sewer) like smell. 

This is one of the village hangi. The hangis are used to cook food underground. The Maori people put their food (chicken, pork, vegetables) into baskets and lay them on top of hot rocks and cover the baskets. The food is then cooked for 3-5 hours. It's like an underground oven. 

The village people swim in this pool. 

Our tour guide, Manawa, is standing by the geothermal pool that is used to cook their food. We ate corn that was pulled out from this pool. It felt good to have this cold, rainy day. 

The Maori people do marry within the family to keep "blue blood." The person buried here dedicated his work/studies to finding out Maori people's lineage and connections. 

The colonizers brought "religion" to the Maori people. There are two churches in the village: one Catholic and one Anglican.  Villagers living here are of either faith. 

Thank you, Manawa, for being a wonderful tour guide and sharing 

your Maori history and culture with us. 

Our AirBnB has a TV and that made mom happy to be able to catch up with the royal news.

Our AirBnB host, Christina, introduced us to "Eat Streat" which is a corridor of restaurants in Rotorua. So many choices.  We chose "Leonardo's" and were not disappointed! So much food and so yummy! All for 46.50 US dollars total! 

During dinner, one topic of conversation was how mom and dad used to own a fast food restaurant called Chicken Delight in South San Francisco. Mom and Dad had to bring the three of us to the restaurant while they did their business. I was two years old. Rowena and Kevin were born during their time as Chicken Delight business owners. Mom would answer the phone and prepare food. Dad would cook the chicken, fries, pizza, etc. 

Kevin, our brother, was either going to be named Oliver (from the movie Love Story) or Kevin. They obviously selected Kevin. Where did they get the idea of "Kevin?" Kevin was a driver for Chicken Delight. He delivered food/meals to families and people in the area. Kevin, the driver, was always prompt for work, hard working, and a really good worker. Mom really liked him and his characteristics and strengths, so they named their third child- Kevin!

We left Leonardo's and mom looked up into the sky. She said, "Hey, where's the moon?" No moon and mooncakes here for us in New Zealand. That's okay! Wishing everyone much warmth, abundance and love of family and friends during this time.