Rotorua
My attempts at enlisting someone to drive me around failed, so I overcame my fear of driving on the "wrong" side of the road, got off my ass and rented a car. I wanted to go to Rotorua, to check out Maori culture "stuff" and (if there was time) to do some adventurous activitity.
On the way to Rotorua i drove through Hobbiton and a few other random towns.
North island isn't particular spectacular from the road (at least not central part). Looks like generic (but pretty) farmland.
Rotorua is famous for 3 things
I chose to go to the Tamaki Maori Village cultural experience show- it was billed as the best one, and it came in a form of "show and a dinner". My ticket there came with a "free trip" to a Hell's Gate thermal park- so i checked that out.
Hell's Gate was cool - but mostly a tourist trap. It's fun to walk through a bunch of sulphur lakes, smell the rotten eggs and watch little sulphurous lakes bubble up. I think i've seen thermal springs before, but it was still pretty awesome - the thermal park area is quite large.
The site used to be sacred to Maori, and there are a few legends (mostly unhappy maidens jumping into pools of boiling water) associated with the place.
I especially liked the clever signage.
The Tamaki Village tour was very interesting. You take a bus to the village (completely recreated), pick a "chief" and enter the village. You are greeted by a Maori warrior who challenges all visitors, exchange pleasantries (rub noses) and go inside.
The village is a "living museum" - it's completely recreated, it is run by a company (2 Maori brothers started it) that employs young Maori that "work" by acting like the ancestors. You arrive by bus, they do the "welcome dance", then you walk through the village where you see them perform "daily routine tasks", then go into a "meeting house" for another round of "song and dance", followed by a traditionally cooked feast (hangi), and a short visit to the "museum shop".
I have somewhat mixed feelings about it. The experience is both fairly educational - and at the same time extremely contrived. Definitely a tourist trap, but a really well made one. Most importantly, it didn't feel patronizing towards the performers. So of course, i didn't see the "true" Maori life - just recreation. It felt a little funny to see people perform their natives customs for you, then sit down next to you and answer any questions.
As is said, though, it wasn't particularly patronizing - the performers (or employees?) seemed like they were having fun. Most importantly, although contrived, it's a great way for Maori to recreate/preserve (although possibly rewrite) their own culture - all the "villagers" were young Maori who looked liked they wanted to learn more about their culture.
Anyway, overall it was fun. Aside from welcoming us with a 'warrior challenge', they showed us a few traditional games and dances - all targeted to make people better warriors. Interestingly, the whole practice of spinning poi was not just ritualistic dance, but was also an exercise to strengthen arms/wrists. Maori men would spin poi made of rocks, instead of the soft balls modern hippies use at burning man :)
We saw a haka - a dance Maori do to psyche themselves up before battle, or to celebrate afterwards. Mostly it involves stomping around, making scary faces and chanting. Pretty mezmerizing, actually. The coolest thing is that one such 'haka' has been adopted as the fight song for NZ national rugby team. The one thing i've noticed is the fierce association of Maori (at least the ones on the tour) to NZ. Seems like a much better deal than tthe disenfranchised Native Americans got in US. So that's really cool.
Anyway, at the end there was a "hangi" feast - cooked in the traditional Maori way, in the whole in the ground, on the rocks under some sand. Not a bad way of cooking, really - dig a hole, put some hot rocks there, throw your food in, cover with sand and walk away for 3-4 hours. And, as they say, if it comes out undercooked - just throw it in the microwave. for a few minutes.
so that's my Maori experience. keep in mind that all the punditry is not meant to belittle or patronize anyone, i'm just trying to sort out my thoughts.
more pictures and videos of the haka are here
On the way to Rotorua i drove through Hobbiton and a few other random towns.
North island isn't particular spectacular from the road (at least not central part). Looks like generic (but pretty) farmland.
Rotorua is famous for 3 things
- it's north island adventure capital
- geysers and other smelly thermal phenomena
- Maori culture
I chose to go to the Tamaki Maori Village cultural experience show- it was billed as the best one, and it came in a form of "show and a dinner". My ticket there came with a "free trip" to a Hell's Gate thermal park- so i checked that out.
Hell's Gate was cool - but mostly a tourist trap. It's fun to walk through a bunch of sulphur lakes, smell the rotten eggs and watch little sulphurous lakes bubble up. I think i've seen thermal springs before, but it was still pretty awesome - the thermal park area is quite large.
The site used to be sacred to Maori, and there are a few legends (mostly unhappy maidens jumping into pools of boiling water) associated with the place.
I especially liked the clever signage.
The Tamaki Village tour was very interesting. You take a bus to the village (completely recreated), pick a "chief" and enter the village. You are greeted by a Maori warrior who challenges all visitors, exchange pleasantries (rub noses) and go inside.
The village is a "living museum" - it's completely recreated, it is run by a company (2 Maori brothers started it) that employs young Maori that "work" by acting like the ancestors. You arrive by bus, they do the "welcome dance", then you walk through the village where you see them perform "daily routine tasks", then go into a "meeting house" for another round of "song and dance", followed by a traditionally cooked feast (hangi), and a short visit to the "museum shop".
I have somewhat mixed feelings about it. The experience is both fairly educational - and at the same time extremely contrived. Definitely a tourist trap, but a really well made one. Most importantly, it didn't feel patronizing towards the performers. So of course, i didn't see the "true" Maori life - just recreation. It felt a little funny to see people perform their natives customs for you, then sit down next to you and answer any questions.
As is said, though, it wasn't particularly patronizing - the performers (or employees?) seemed like they were having fun. Most importantly, although contrived, it's a great way for Maori to recreate/preserve (although possibly rewrite) their own culture - all the "villagers" were young Maori who looked liked they wanted to learn more about their culture.
Anyway, overall it was fun. Aside from welcoming us with a 'warrior challenge', they showed us a few traditional games and dances - all targeted to make people better warriors. Interestingly, the whole practice of spinning poi was not just ritualistic dance, but was also an exercise to strengthen arms/wrists. Maori men would spin poi made of rocks, instead of the soft balls modern hippies use at burning man :)
We saw a haka - a dance Maori do to psyche themselves up before battle, or to celebrate afterwards. Mostly it involves stomping around, making scary faces and chanting. Pretty mezmerizing, actually. The coolest thing is that one such 'haka' has been adopted as the fight song for NZ national rugby team. The one thing i've noticed is the fierce association of Maori (at least the ones on the tour) to NZ. Seems like a much better deal than tthe disenfranchised Native Americans got in US. So that's really cool.
Anyway, at the end there was a "hangi" feast - cooked in the traditional Maori way, in the whole in the ground, on the rocks under some sand. Not a bad way of cooking, really - dig a hole, put some hot rocks there, throw your food in, cover with sand and walk away for 3-4 hours. And, as they say, if it comes out undercooked - just throw it in the microwave. for a few minutes.
so that's my Maori experience. keep in mind that all the punditry is not meant to belittle or patronize anyone, i'm just trying to sort out my thoughts.
more pictures and videos of the haka are here
Labels: New Zealand
posted by toli at 3:43 AM
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