Now we have experienced the true New Zealand! We went on a Maori tour.  These are the native people of New Zealand. The village is owned by two brothers who had a dream to portray their culture to people from all over the world.

Entrance to the Maori Village

Once we got to the village, there was a funny challenge of people with warriors spitting on the ground, sticking their tongues out, and making hideous grunting sounds. It’s a welcome ceremony called Pohiri.  The tribe wants the first impression to be scary, just in case the other tribe does not come in peace.  The Chief of the Village It was very funny, but we could not laugh or smile during the ceremony because it would have been disrespectful of their culture. Once the peace offering was made by the chief, we (the accepted visitors) were escorted into the village. Each hut had carved symbols of people made of wood and paua shells.

Beautiful hand-carved huts

They all represented something, such as warrior training. At one of the huts a warrior taught us about their tattoos. It is a very painful process back in the day. One side of their face is dedicated to their mother and the other to his father. We played some of the native family games and practiced some warrior training activities, too. Before we ate, the Maori performed dances and sang songs in their language. https://youtu.be/ZpR2WRBCCmA Our dinner was wonderful. All the food was steamed underground in a oven.  It was delicious, though I think I ate too much.

You can see the steam coming from the underground oven

We enjoyed NZ Lamb, chicken, mussels and tons of veggies

I met a friend from Munich, Germany. Her name is Malu. She and her family were traveling around NZ in a camper (‘they say “campa” here) for four weeks! This was the end of the tour. I wish it was longer! Look for more on New Zealand from your WorldTrek reporter soon! Keep Calm and Travel Around the World