New Zealand - The Maori Village Experience

Hello there!

Having completed my earlier travel posts on several interesting countries and regions, including Japan, Maldives, Indonesia, US and the latest one being several countries in Europe, it's time to fly south and share on one of most picturesque countries in the world, and that's New Zealand!

This trip was took place several years back in 2015, and the trip was filled with adventures and many unique activities and experiences.

Here are the posts so far:
Day Hike @ Tongariro Alpine Crossing
New Zealand - Dolphin Watching At Bay Of Islands
New Zealand - Exploring The Scenic Otehei Bay
New Zealand - Visiting Cape Reinga Lighthouse At The Northernmost Tip

The next adventure we had in New Zealand was a visit to a Maori Village! The one which we went to was Tamaki Maori Village at Rotorua. Having heard of Maoris and their unique performances and culture, I was looking forward to this visit and it was definitely an eye opener for me.

We arrived at the village close to 1800h and this was the entrance!

We made our way in and we were greeted by a welcome ceremony. After that we got an introduction of the activities within the village. It was fun and interesting to listen and soon we were off to explore the village and try out new activities and games that were related to the Maori culture.

There were many "stations" within the village that visitors could explore and learn about the Maori culture, and there were games to play as well. It was really fun to immerse myself in the woods (well not quite a forest) and experience something new. I remembered participating in some of the games as well, and they were immensely welcoming towards us.

We also got to see how they cooked their food the traditional way using heat.

Of course, the great finale was definitely the haka dance! We were led to a hall and as soon as the visitors settled down, we were treated to what I would say one of the most amazing and memorable performances. The men kicked things off, followed by the ladies, and then followed by the entire group.

By the end of the performance, everyone was so pumped up and were cheering for them! To me, it was a bag of mixed emotions. The energy level was through the roof and it was on one hand exciting, but on the other hand also heartwarming at the same time to watch them perform. The level of passion and dedication they had towards their culture was definitely commendable and it is because the culture lives on generation after generation, and that's why visitors like us are able to witness and enjoy these performances. It was definitely an eye opener for me, and that was definitely one of the most memorable experiences I had for the trip. After all, you can't get anything like this outside of New Zealand.

And that's all I have today! Have you been to New Zealand? Let me know in the comments below!

Finally, thanks for reading my post in the community under World Map Pin!