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Published: December 25th 2008
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Tauranga, New Zealand, North Island - December 22nd - 8:16pm
So this morning was yet again an early morning. I wanted to go on a Maori culture excursion before I disembarked. Lee was working all morning and there was a tour that was only 3 hours long so it would be perfect. I was very tired today as we got to bed late and the disadvantage of the window in our room is that the sun shines in. So I was up bright and early and couldn’t get back to sleep. Lee got up at 6:45am and I was sooo tired, I couldn’t even open my eyes to say bye to him before he left for work. He set the alarm for 7: Lee got up at 6:45am and I was sooo tired, I couldn’t even open my eyes to say bye to him before he left for work. He set the alarm for 7:40am and I wasn’t going anywhere, good thing he loves me and gave me a wakeup call. I finally got my butt in gear as I had to be on the pier for 8:25 at the latest and we still had to deal with my seapass card.
I got out of the shower at 8:00am and I wasn’t going anywhere fast. I thought I was going fast but next thing you know it was 8:15 and I was supposed to meet Lee upstairs already. Good thing it took 2 seconds to sort out. I was a wee bit flustered but soon relaxed and got on the bus safely.
I was heading on the Maori Cultural Highlights Tour, which in the description sounds great. Lee had to be at desk so he was unable to join me but he has a few more cruises to see these tours. We headed out of the port and our tour guides starts talking in her native tongue, the Maori language. I was thinking this isn’t going to be too fun if I can’t understand what she’s saying but she soon translated. She taught us a song to sing when we get to the grounds as we had to enter in the traditional way they do.
We made a quick stop at a Kiwi farm and Mark (our bus driver) gave us some information about farming Kiwis. It was the same information as I heard the other day so I waited
patiently and tried to be creative with the camera.
We finally got to the Paparoa Maori Grounds where we had to stand women in the front, men in the back. We chose a leader of the group to speak to the elder on behave of us who stood in the front. The young warrior came up doing a little dance to scare us away, our leader (Ashton) placed a peace offering on the ground which the warrior then accepted meaning that we come in peace.
We all sat down and they began singing their songs to us, we sang ours to them and then we were greeted traditionally. But they introduce people by touching their nose and foreheads together, they believe that by touching noses with your host your breathe mingles together and you become one, when touching foreheads you exchange and shore knowledge. It was a very different greeting but it was neat to be a part of it. They then shared some stories about different gatherings that they have in the ‘big house’. They celebrate death by bringing the body into the room, placing it at the back of the room with mattresses spread around the room.
The family and friends then sleep in the same room for 3 days and 3 nights, where they grieve together. After which the bring the body to the cemetery.
We had a few refreshments and continued down to the school where the kids sang and danced for us. The ladies of the group pulled all the ladies in the audience up. I wasn’t going to go up but soon realized that I was the only one that wasn’t going, so I figured when in Rome… We were taught a dance and then performed it, and as you all know I’m GREAT at dancing and rhythm…NOT. I hope no one taped that. The men then went up and had to make the faces and stomp around like the warriors did. The Maori people didn’t fight with swords and guns they used to stomp around and make scary faces to frighten their opponents.
After some guests taking their sweet time going through all the crafts we went to a lookout point, took a few pictures and headed back to the ship. We were actually 45minutes late getting back, so Lee was a little antsy when I got back. He was so kind to let me go through security to immediately get back off the ship; the turkey.
We walked in to town, had a really good lunch at a Mediterranean café. I ordered nachos but they had chilli on top instead of salsa and there was pineapple in the chilli. It was different but good. We walked around, looked in a few shops, developed a pictures of Luc and Anna on top of Mount Eden to give to Luc as a Christmas present and a thank-you gift. We then slowly made our way back to the ship.
Nap time…
Lee had the lovely advantage to head up to work. There wasn’t much to do so I wasn’t needed, maybe tomorrow. I thought I’d get back up to the gym and after 20minutes of searching our room and Lee’s room I couldn’t find my running shoes. I figured I may as well enjoy the sauna, which is precisely what I did.
11:01pm
It was formal night so I came back here and got dressed up. We headed upstairs to have dinner. I had some stir-fry which was tasty but a wee bit spicy. Luc soon joined us and we had a great chat. A little bit about everything. He’s a really good guy.
We just came back from dinner, I finally uploaded some more blogs. I was hoping that my minutes for the internet would transfer over till this cruise but I was wrong…oh well. It may take me a little longer to get blogs up to date so please bare with me. But it’s bed time for this couple. Night.
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