Recently we were privileged enough to spend a magical evening out at Rotorua’s Tamaki Maori Village and spoil ourselves with some Maori culture and of course HANGI!!!!! This was definitely to re-familiarise ourselves with the wonderful product which is Tamaki but more importantly about the Magical Green Tiki Island Cocktails and HANGI that flowed and flowed and flowed, until it’s safe to say was rather hard to walk to the bus without waddling.
The night began when Sonny one of the bus drivers and quite the entertainer picked us up from Base Rotorua. From the get go Sonny was very welcoming and was talking to everyone on the bus trip out to the village about what was going to happen once we got out there. We arrived to the village and are welcomed into the village by Powhiri (which is an ancient ceremony of welcome). This is the formal part of the evening. You know the men and woman out at Tamaki are dedicated to giving you the best experience when it’s pouring with rain yet they are wearing traditional Maori clothing which is not a lot of clothing at all!
We were educated and captivated by this culture that we call our own. We joined in on some traditional games, learned about flax weaving and tattooing. Now stop HAKA time.
Next it was into the meeting house for song and dance and yes you guessed it they performed the haka! (As seen performed by the rugby world champions the mighty All Blacks)
To finish off the evening we had our amazing hangi buffet feast! Succulent meat and vegetables cooked beneath the ground. New Zealand pavlova if you still have the room and a fully licensed bar.
Also a few songs sung by the terrific bus drivers and of course a haka at the end.
We had an amazing evening. Tamaki is an awesome cultural experience.
Weather your familiar with the Maori culture or not. You will leave Tamaki Maori Village feeling enlightened.
Anna & Steph - Base Rotorua
Tags:
Rotorua
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New Zealand
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Tamaki Maori Village
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Haka