True Maori Experiences

Monday, March 29, 2011

Monday was a day full of history, cultural, and natural New Zealand experiences. We went to Te Puia this morning for a Maori performance. When we got there, there was a group of kids from Tahiti that were traveling over here and they performed some dances as well. They were so cute. I love how all of the Polynesian cultures dance. We then walked over to the Mari or meeting house where we choose Jim to be our chief for the Powhiri or Maori welcoming ceremony. At the gateway to the Mari, we stood and waited until one of the warriors called with a large horn and another came up to us and brought a leaf which Jim went and picked up showing them we came in peace. All of us girls then followed Jim up to the meeting house. There were a bunch of Asian people that even though our guide kept saying not to push kept pushing us and trying to push there way in. We removed our shoes before entering the Mari as a sign of respect for the sacred grounds. Our group was supposed to be first and follow our chief Jim in, but we kinda kept getting pushed out of the way by the crowd.

Once inside, the men took a seat on the front row, with the women and children in the rows behind as was custom for these ceremonies. Their chief then gave a speech and sang a waiata before Chief Jim went up and was park of a hangi so we could officially be welcomed as part of their people in the Mari. The Maori cultural performance then began. A traditional stick dance was performed and a Maori love song/ legend which was really pretty followed by a dance with their poi balls. Some of the girls in our group got to go up on stage and do the dance with the poi dance as well. It was quite a sight to see. The performance was closed with a performance of the haka by the men, but not before some of the men from the audience joined in the haka. Chief Jim got up on stage and learned the haka. It was so funny to watch him do the haka and the faces he made, one of the funniest sights ever. I took a video to document how sweet it was. So great and I am so glad he did it for us. we are now calling him Chief Jim. 


After the performance we had a guided tour of Te Puia. Our guide Ben was pretty cool and explained the moko or Maori tattoos, but it is kinda offensive for them to be called tattoos. The moko are a symbol of their identity and has so much meaning and symbolism to it. I respect it and then they believe other tattoos are degrading and should not be on the body. 


Our tour started with learning the full name of Te Puia which is Te Whakarewarewatanga o te ope tau a Wahiao which translates to The Gathering Place of the war parties of Wahiao. The Maori language has some of the longest words there are. we then had the opportunity to see two live kiwi birds. The kiwi bird is New Zealand's national bird, but we haven't had the opportunity to see it because it is endangered, so this was my first time seeing a live kiwi. it was so cool. They are big and fluffy with these long pointed noses and are nocturnal. I am glad we got to see them. We then continued our tour down to the mud pools and saw a traditional trap for huge birds that used to be in New Zealand and that are now extinct like the large eagles in Lord of the Rings. 


Next we saw the Pohutu Geyser erupt. This park is like New Zealand's Yellowstone Park, but in my opinion better. It sure does have the sulfur smell that is at Yellowstone. Seeing the geysers here kinda makes me want to visit Yellowstone and see the geysers there sometime. Afterwards we got to see the carving and weaving schools. These were pretty cool. I got to see how the wood is carved which is quite a process with all of the intricate Maori carvings. The weaving was cool to see too. They make so much out of the flax leaves such a skirts, bags, and rain jackets. It was pretty cool to see. Our tour ended there, but Kara and I kept exploring afterwards. We went and explored this old Maori village that is set up like an actual traditional Maori village. It was pretty cool to see how the Maori people lived. After wondering around for a while, we left Te Puia to go to the green, blue, and Taramae Lakes. 


The blue lake was gorgeous and we were able to swim in that one, the green lake was pretty too, but that one is considered to be sacred by the Maori people, so no one has ever swam in it. Taramae Lake is where the pink and white terraces used to be before a volcanic eruption in 1886. These terraces used to be known as the 8th wonder of the world, but they are now at the bottom of the lake. I kinda wish we could have seen what they look like.After wards we drove down to Old Rotorua and were allowed to wonder around there for a while. Katie and I walked up to the Rotorua museum  which used to be an old bath house. The outside of it is gorgeous with this old English architecture.We also saw some lawn bowling going on, on the grounds outside the museum. Lawn bowling is kinda like bochee ball, looks like fun. We then wondered around the town and went in some of the shops. I love hanging out with Katie. She has become one of my best friends over here. 

We then headed back to the Bronze's where I tried my first fresh passion fruit. It was so good. I am kinda addicted now. I also tried so fejoi which is another New Zealand fruit. That night, we were the guests to Annette's dinner show and theater. The dinner show was so fun. It was in this little theater all set up like the 1800's. The food we had was so good and hongi type food, so chicken kumera, lots of veggies,etc. It was so good. The show was pretty funny and good too. It was about the volcanic eruption that occurred in 1886 in Rotorua and the pink and white terraces. There were 4 main actors in the show and it was pretty funny about an old hotel and all of the people that came and traveled to see the pink and white terraces. All of the other people needed for the show came from the audience so there was quite a bit of participation. It was fun. Becca had to go up and have a German accent, a bunch of us went up and danced. It was all in good fun. We also had to climb under our tables when it came to the part about the volcano erupting.We laughed through most of it and quite enjoyed ourselves. One of those Mondays you actually look forward to. 


It will be weird to go home and not be around all of the gorgeous New Zealand scenery, people, and accents. It has all become normal to me things in the states are going to be weird to me now.