Auckland and a Maori haka in Rotorua

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Ashley and John arrived in New Zealand, after a frightening incident in which John dropped his passport outside of our home 30 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the airport. Yikes! Nothing that 17 hours in the air can't fix. . .

Our travel plan has included three days in Auckland, three days in Roturua and then another 3 somewhere else. Auckland is a cool city but was made exceptional by our host Paul. We found Paul through the couchsurfing.com network and we thought 'what the heck?'. Someone willing to offer up their home to total strangers can't be all that bad, can they? Paul is a Kiwi (New Zealander) who previously lived in San Francisco, Seattle and Hawaii before returning home. He greeted us at the airport with a trip to Denny's at 5am. He has been the ultimate host, taking care of our every need and driving us around the city to show us the sites. Kudos to couchsurfing!

The views of the capital are stunning. Auckland is a city built among a gorgeous bay and 30 volcanic mounds, many made thousands of years ago but some not-so-long more recent. Paul took us to the huge lake Pupuke near his home which was created 150 years ago when Mt. Rangitoto exploded and tossed a giant rock across the bay and into this spot.

After hiking a few small dormant volcanoes, we spent the next day walking around Auckland. We were surprised to find how it resembled Seattle in so many ways. It has its own space needle (which people bungy jump off of), not to mention a slew of Western businesses: Burger King, Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Cartridge World and a host of other western economic invasions. But we didn't travel around the globe to feast on Big Macs.

So, after checking out the main Auckland sites, we hopped on a bus and traveled south to Rotorua, a city of 70,000 known for its dedication to the preservation of the Maori people's heritage as well as volcanic geothermal bubbling spots. The Maori people were the first settlers of New Zealand, before Captain Cook came from England in the 1700s. Ashley and I visited a place called Te Puia - one of the best cultural heritage centers we've seen. We participated in a show celebrating the Maori people, including a traditional greeting ceremony, songs, dances, poi ball spinning, and the haka war dance.

For the show, John was chosen as the visiting group's 'chief' and was asked to greet the warriors before we could enter the whare (sacred space). Once we safely entered, the performers led us through a traditional celebration. Ashley performed the challenging poi ball spinning dance while John danced the haka in which men stomp their feet, slap their thighs, chant loudly and stick out their tongues.

Interestingly, there are no traditional drums in the Maori culture. Primarily, they play the conch shell, nose flute, body percussion and calabash shell (gourd) for rhythms. More recently, they have adopted the guitar and sing lovely, bold harmonies during their less-fierce songs. We have collected some fun haka chants and poi ball maneuvers to bring back home for students to enjoy.

Here is a quick example of part of a traditional war chant:
Ka mate Ka mate (it is death it is death)
ka Ora Ka Ora (it is life it is life)
Upane, ka upane (the rank, hold fast)
Whiti te ra (into the sunshine)

We have 3-4 more days in New Zealand, and we have decided to head to Lake Taupo and Mt. Tongariro, known for its appearance as "Mt. Doom" in the New Zealand movie "Lord of the Rings." New Zealand is known for its beautiful landscapes and outdoors activities, and we plan on getting out and hiking through some of it. More to report later.

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Comments

[Anna]

Safe Travels
The pictures are so beautiful!! Have Fun!! John you should've chained your passport to your drum =)