An evening with the Maori

I find the Maori culture very exciting. However, I didn't notice much of it on the South Island. Here on the North Island this culture is much more present, especially in and around Rotorua.

In advance, I booked an event with the Maori for the evening and was excited to see what awaited me there.

The event itself takes place outside of Rotorua, but the meeting point was in the city. Everyone who will be taking part that evening has gathered there. A “boss” was chosen from our group and the journey began in the bus. The tour guide for the evening explained to us that the Maori came to New Zealand with a waka. A waka is anything that moves and can transport people. Back then the waka was a boat, today it's a bus 😉. They are probably flexible 😅.

After arriving in the village, we were told that we would immediately be greeted by the Maori tribe and that we should not laugh when greeting us, but should remain serious. We should follow our “boss”. So nice afterwards. The gate to the village opened and we entered into a beautifully landscaped square. It didn't take long before a few warriors came running with spear-like weapons in their hands. They looked grim, shouted at us and danced back and forth in front of us. After a moment, one of the warriors placed a fern leaf in front of him. Our boss's job was now to boldly go forward and pick up the fern leaf. This was to show that we come in peace. The Maori chief came over and said a few words to his warriors, who then retreated. The boss shared the Hongi (traditional greeting nose to nose) with our boss and then we were welcomed into his village, with his family.

We were invited to the village with this traditional reception. The village is not a place (i.e. this village) where the Maori live, it was only built for tourist purposes. In the village we learned from the Maori about their traditional tattoos and carvings, their war dance, the women's dance with their pois (balls) and a kind of game with sticks. There was a small snack for each topic.

Afterwards we were invited to their meeting house. There we danced and sang. That was really very impressive and the melodies were very beautiful.

At the end of the evening we had a 3-course menu that was very tasty.

Even though we were the 3rd event that evening, I never had the feeling that we were just the tourists being shown something to them. The whole event was so authentic and loving. The Maori gave us the feeling all evening as if we were actually their (first) guests.

We then went back with our waka. Tired, full, happy...

It was a really impressive evening that I will remember for a long time.