Tamaki Maori Village, Rotorua, New Zealand
Right now, we can't travel anywhere, so I am finally getting around to doing some armchair travel on my blog. Two years ago this month, my family went to New Zealand for a vacation. It was my third trip to New Zealand and their second.
I wanted to take my family to places that they had never been to before that I enjoyed, and one place that I had never been to as I couldn't fit it in on my 2008 trip (yep, that long ago). Sadly, the family did not like the places that I had enjoyed as much as I did, and I didn't enjoy them as much as a result, but hey, that's the joys of family travel.
After a brief stopover in Auckland, on the North Island, we took the bus to Rotorua. They have a great intercity bus network in New Zealand, and it is a cheap way to see the country side and get from A to B (although not fast).
While in Rotorua, we visited the Tamaki Maori Village. I think it is great to take in some Maori culture while in New Zealand, even if it is a tourist friendly version.
To get to Tamaki Maori Village, you take a shuttle bus from Rotorua, and the village is a short drive out on the freeway. We were divided into groups and allocated to a guide. The groups were named after extinct New Zealand bird life. Our group was the Huias (pronounced hoo-ya), driven to extinction by the Europeans destroying their habitat, introducing predators and killing them as ornaments for their living rooms. On the bus ride, we were taught a few Maori words, including ka pai (good).
On arrival, we received the Maori greeting (Powhiri):
Some hapless chap was involved in audience participation at this stage as the chief of our tribe.
Our groups then toured the village, which is divided into whare (huts), each featuring a different cultural activity or demonstration. A word of warning to the mobility impaired - you do a lot of walking and standing up, so this might not be the greatest activity for you. My mum could not cope with the long periods of standing, and a kind employee led her quietly away and seated her in the cultural experience hut while my brother and I continued with the activities. I thought we'd lost her, but thankfully she turned up a bit later.
One of these huts involved a demonstration of stick games, by female actors wearing faux Kiwi feather cloaks:
It was bitterly cold that night, so I am not sure how this poor lady could cope with no shoes.
The next hut involved the male tourists being shown how to do the haka, much to the amusement of the female audience:
My brother really got into it:
I can't remember what these guys were doing, but it looks impressive:
All the groups then gathered together to hear about the hangi, which involves cooking food in the ground on hot rocks. The hangi feast that we are about to enjoy is in the background, comprised of meat (lamb and chicken in this case) and vegetables:
This guy, dressed as a chief, is wearing two faux huia tail feathers in his hair:
Before enjoying the hangi buffet, we attended a 30 minute cultural performance with traditional Maori singing and dancing:
I love the tongue:
These women dance while twirling poi balls, made from flax:
Here is a short video to take you there:
Afterwards, it was time to dive into the hangi buffet:
There were some very European desserts for afters. We sat at a table with two young travellers from San Francisco, who were going zorbing the next day (yikes!).
Although the Tamaki Maori Village is very touristy, it was fun and worth the visit.
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