We got really close in high school because we spent a lot of time singing together in the same performing groups, including Laytones at Layton High School. As you can see, we Laytones were pretty much the coolest kids in school, what with our super snazzy outfits, big hair and such.
For those of you who may be struggling to identify us, Amber's got a prime position right there in the middle, with her head tilted ever-so-slighty. Me? I'm crammed in near the right side -- the only person in the whole photo with not an inch of body showing, just my face and my gigantic head of hair!
So, have you stopped laughing yet? Really? Not yet? Well, okay, if you must... carry on..................
Okay, now you're just being rude. Pull yourself together. As I was trying to say, Amber has an amazing voice, and it has always been such a pleasure to sing with her. As you can see from the first photo, she also has five great kids who adore her, she's a very talented athlete, and most importantly, she is a wonderful and loyal friend. So, when she booked a ticket to come and visit me in New Zealand, I was thrilled!
Steve was out of town when she arrived, and the next day just happened to be Valentine's Day. Even though we were husband-less, we decided that that wouldn't stop us from enjoying a nice night out on the town! We shared a lovely dinner and lots of conversation and laughter at Aberdeen restaurant.
We've come a long way since those floral-printed overalls and huge bangs! (right?!?)
Steve returned home from his trip, nearly moving heaven and earth to make it back as scheduled -- thanks, babe! The next morning, Amber and I took off on a quick road trip of the North Island. We rented a sweet little car, which was very appropriately bright red colored (hopefully Big Red wasn't too jealous).
It was a perfectly clear day, and the view of the Mount Ngauruhoe volcano, in Tongariro National Park, was especially crisp!
You can't take visitors through Taupo without stopping at Huka Falls!
We stopped for the night in Rotorua. We stayed at a quaint little place called the Waiteti Trout Stream Holiday Park. They had a lodge where we rented a little room with two beds and a small table. We used the community bathroom, showers and kitchen. It was perfect for our needs! The view from the balcony outside our room, looking down at the slow-moving stream, was so charming.
I think we would both agree that the highlight of our entire trip turned out to be our visit to Mitai Maori Village.
We took a selfie of ourselves near the front of the canoe...
...then quickly realized that the warrior carved onto the front of the canoe was -- how shall I put this -- very well endowed. :) It wouldn't be a true girls' trip if we didn't do something a little immature, right? While I feigned horror and confusion, Amber fully embraced (*cough*) the essence of the carving.
Inside, we were seated at a table in a crowded room and our host began to ask where everyone was from. We were surprised to learn that so many countries were represented, twenty or so! The host assigned a gentleman in the crowd to be the "chief" of our tribe, and then casually asked, "Do we have any singers here tonight?" Amber and I looked at each other, but didn't say anything. After a few seconds, he said, "No singers? No one?" We shrugged our shoulders and tentatively raised our hands. We went to the front of the room, and our host asked us to sing something! Amber proved to be the brains behind our duo and quickly came up with a tune -- "You Are My Sunshine" -- which we sang loud and proud, no rehearsing, with harmony throughout. The crowd cheered loudly and we felt great.
The host pulled us aside to say that we would be singing later. I honestly assumed that we would be learning a song to sing, maybe a Maori song? I didn't give it much thought, but as we started our tour through the enchanted woods, Amber kept suggesting that we think of something else to sing. A moment later she said, "Amazing Grace." Perfect song! Did we know it well enough? We went off to the side of the trail and whisper-sang through it two times, to make sure we had the right pitch and were solid on the lyrics. Just in case. :)
The trail led to a beautiful stream, and before long a canoe full of warriors made their way up the stream, chanting to each other. It was awesome.
Next stop was to see the hangi meal, with an explanation for how it was prepared. I won't repeat the details since I covered it very thoroughly in my Christmas posts. This food looked delicious and was almost identical to the hangi we had for Christmas at the Kingi home:
Yum!! But it wasn't time to eat just yet. We were led into the performance tent, and Amber and I, along with our "chief", were asked to stand to the side while all the people started to file in from the two full dinner groups (someone told us it was over 300 people). Not gonna lie...my heart was beating a bit faster than normal, not knowing what to expect! The host from the other group took over, and the reenactment of ancient Maori culture officially began. My phone had inconveniently lost its charge, so thank goodness Amber had the good sense (and enough battery power!) to hand her phone over to a nice gentleman from our dining table, asking him to record our contribution to the presentation:
Needless to say, that was an amazing experience that we will always treasure!
The rest of the program was awesome...lots of singing, dancing, and demonstrating traditional Maori battle methods. We loved it!
We had been saved two seats on the front row, right in the center. Those guy performers weren't wearing much, and as they energetically performed, we honestly felt a little uncomfortable, especially when they would come right to the edge and we could essentially see under their little wraps. It was one of those situations where we were like, "Do we look? Do we turn away?" Ha ha. Maybe it's what we deserved after being so silly earlier with the canoe!
After the performance, we returned to our tent and enjoyed the amazing food. It was all so delicious, especially the scalloped potatoes and stuffing! I'm not usually a stuffing fan, but Mitai's stuffing was incredible. Of course, the meats and potatoes from the hangi were perfect too. We ate to our hearts' content, and were sitting back, letting our food digest, when the host picked up the microphone and said, "I think I speak for everyone when I say that our singers were wonderful. How about one more song?" Really?!? We rolled ourselves to the front and sang a rousing rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." By this time, most of the dinner guests had had a few drinks, so they cheered louder than they might have otherwise. We kinda felt like celebrities. It was awesome. I wanted to grab the mic and say, "We're just a couple of housewives, and have eleven kids between us!!" But, I just smiled and said "Thank you" to everyone who complimented us. Definitely unforgettable!
I think this is a good place to stop on my Amber report. Part two, coming soon!
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