A Maori Experience

We wanted to see a traditional Maori evening and so we booked onto this special experience that also takes you to a wildlife sanctuary where you can see NZ national bird, the Kiwi.

We ended up in a group of elderly American tourists, but they were quite good fun, so we all had a giggle in the end.

We got to the place, where we were greated by this Maori lady in traditional costume and she explained a bit about the history and culture of the Maori. She had the traditional blue tattoos on her face and on her body and it looked quite cool. She also taught us some words 'Kia Ora' which means 'hello' and 'be well' and lots of other good things, so you're never wrong saying Kia Ora.

We also chose a 'Chief' from our group for the welcome ceremony, where we get invited into the Maori village. It's quite scary, we were walking through this forested area and all of a sudden these blokes jumped out and were screaming stuff and then this one guy did the whole traditional greeting which involves a challenge. You mustn't respond to the challenge though, but instead, you have to pick up the green twig as a sign of peace and then you do the handshake and go nose-to-nose for the sharing of breath.

It's pretty serious stuff. Apparently, when the Dutch came to NZ hundreds of years ago, they were greeted by the Maori with their traditional challenge. So they 'greeted' back by firing their cannons, which was kind of like saying to the Maori guys 'Up yours mate, we're stronger than you'. So when they tried to land, the Maoris killed them - chip, chop - and the Dutch got so scared they sailed away and didn't come back for another couple hundred years. How's that for a history lesson!

Anyway, then they sang some traditional songs and showed us the traditional style huts that they would have built and it was all really interesting. The songs were cool too and in the end we did the hokey kokey in Maori. Hmmm....

All the girls were then invited to have a go at the poi, which was brilliant! I love poi - they are so fun. We weren't really good with them though but we tried. Then all the guys had to go on stage to try and do the Hakka. Oh man, I nearly weed myself. It was too funny - there was no coordination and they didn't really look scary, more comical. I don't think they would have scared any kind of enemy away.

We then got fed - big buffet, yum! - and then got to visit the sanctuary to see all the different native birds and fish. That was really nice, especially because it was in the dark, but then a parrot did a poo on me. It was a very big poo, too. I wasn't impressed. I couldn't find it straight away, but I was convinced it was a poo, though the guy said it was probably a 'heavy leaf'. Hah?

I thought that was hilarious, but everyone else nodded like it made perfect sense...

Anyway, it was poo and managed to flick it off, so there you go. And then we saw the Kiwis, they are great! They are really big and funny, they are the size of a football and they have a long beak and stumpy legs like an ostrich and they walk about poking around for little snacks.

They have no wings, but they can run really fast. They are endangered though because possums and weasels kill them and eat their eggs, as well as domestic dogs, who chase them, too. So they need a helping hand, or they will go extinct. Apparently when they get older, they get better at defending themselves. They will kick their predator and run away, but they wouldn't have a chance against a dog, would they?

It was really interesting and I loved it. I want a kiwi. Oh, another fact for you. The kiwi fruit got its name from the Kiwi bird, because when the bird sleeps, it tucks its beak in and rolls itself up, so it looks like a kiwi. So cute!