Jan 2: Te Puia to Taupo

The next morning, we went to Te Puia, a Maori cultural centre in Rotorua.  We took a guided tour and had the weirdest encounter at the beginning of it.  Our tour guide was asking what countries everyone was from.  When she said "US," we all raised our hands and someone with an accent yelled out a happy "Obama!"  Not two seconds later, another accented voice which we quickly pinpointed to be an old man with a hat said "Obama may be the President of America, but he's not American."  WHAT??!!!  We all turned to the guy and were looking at him with incredulous and somewhat hateful looks.  Outside of him being an ass, we couldn't believe he was saying that at Te Puia, a place where one comes to learn all about another culture.  AHHH!!!  Luckily, after about 5 minutes, he left our tour.  Good riddance.

Our guided tour lasted an hour and gave us a great overview of Maori culture and history.  Te Puia also hosts the New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute (National Carving, Weaving  and Pounamu Schools) to preserve these important Maori skills and traditions.  Maori come from all around the country and stay for three years, learning from masters of the crafts and ensuring that these arts will continue on.

An incredibly intricate piece at the Carving School

Todd with a work in progress on a huge tree trunk

Carvings on a seat in a waka (canoe)

Carving at the back of the waka

Replica of early Maori village homes

A wharenui, sacred meeting house

Ceiling inside the wharenui

  

Waka

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend a cultural performance.  Nine Maori artists did traditional dances, songs, and welcoming ceremonies.  One of the things they did was a stick tossing song and dance that made my jaw drop.  Not only because it was cool, but because it looked almost exactly like the Lemmi Sticks that I've been doing at camp since I was in high school!!  I took a video of it, which I'll post upon return to Dunedin, and my fellow PLers will probably be just as shocked as I was.  I think it's time to do some research into Lemmi Sticks and its origins.

Midafternoon, we drove an hour south to Taupo, home of Vanessa's cousin Christine, and town on the edge of stunning Lake Taupo.  Christine was kind enough to let us all crash at her house.  After unloading our stuff at Christine's, we changed into swimsuits and headed directly to the lake for a swim.  The water was perfectly cool.  The lake floor was sandy, and the beach had plenty of room for everyone.  We are LOVING the fact that the sun doesn't set until 9:30pm, because there is no rush.