POWHIRI AND HANGI DINNER – NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

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After the tour of the cultural village and centers we all assembled at 6 pm for the evening cultural ceremony and dinner and Tony gave us detailed instructions about the ceremony ,he had already selected one of our members Mr Tony as our chief.

He told us that at any cost none of us should laugh or make fun of the Maoris during the ceremony and offend them as in a previous batch, one of the tourist was found heckling them and Tony had a tough time managing the explosive situation.
He gave us a piece of paper with few lines of poetry written which we had to sing during the ceremony and we all diligently rehearsed it.

Then we all gathered at the Te Aronui-ā-rua carved meeting house. This is where ceremonies and concerts are held. It featured stunning carvings, intricately decorated panels and impressive weaving. It was built between 1967 and 1981 by students and graduates of the carving school.
 Te Arawa are the local tribe of this area. After migrating from Polynesia on an ocean in canoes around 700 years ago, they explored New Zealand’s volcanic plateau and harnessed the abundant geothermal resources they found in the area.

We felt very thrilled and honoured to be witnessing the POWHIRI
A Pōwhiri is a traditional Māori welcoming ceremony. It was originally used to challenge a visiting party and find out their intentions.
 A pōwhiri usually involves a wero (challenge) from a warrior and a karanga (welcome call) from a female host. This is followed by whaikōrero (welcome speeches). Following the speeches, waiata (songs) are often sung and then visitors hongi – press noses together in a traditional Māori greeting.

In Maori tradition, Te Po (the night) was a very important time. It was when Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatuanuku (Earth Mother) lay in an embrace. When separated, light permeated Te Po and Te Ao Marama (World of Life) began.

 We all stood with bated breaths and stilled silence as the wero an aggressive challenge of the visitor at the beginning of the ceremony started,it sure is the most spectacular part of the Pōwhiri.
 Three Māori warriors splendidly dressed and made up advanced cautiously towards us with ceremonial weapons and performed threatening gestures and grimaces, called out battle screams and generally were giving an impression of being ready to explode into violence against us at any moment.

 The first warrior represented the realm of Tumatauenga, the Atua (God) of War. The third Warrior represented Rongo the Atua of Peace and the final warrior  offered the rautapu, a signal that the manuhiri (guests) may enter the Marae-atea.
We came to know that this showed off the martial prowess of the iwi's warriors, and also tested the steadfastness of the visitors.
Rautapu,which was a leaf was placed by the lead warrior on the ground before our chief as a symbolic offering of peace which our chief very gravely accepted ,
All this while, kaikaranga (female caller) stood to the side and slightly to the front of the remainder of the hosts.
We then entered the hall where the dances would take place,there were benches on which we sat we were also joined by other tourist groups ,after a speech from our female host our chief also spoke about our group and we sang our song
The ceremonial tapu was lifted when tangata whenua and manuhiri made physical contact with hongi i.e rubbing their noses
Although the use of haka by the All Blacks rugby union team and the New Zealand rugby league team has made one type of haka familiar, it has led to misconceptions. Most haka are performed by men. There are however some haka which are performed predominantly by women .

This was followed by splendid dance performances where the dancers danced with gay abandon ,few played musical instruments and some sang ,all these were done interspersed with recitatations of the stories associated with them
Various actions were employed in the performance, including facial contortions such as showing the whites of the eyes and poking out the tongue, and a wide variety of vigorous body actions such as slapping the hands against the body and stomping of the feet.

As well as chanted words, a variety of cries and grunts were used. Haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent many instruments. The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy or other feelings relevant to the purpose of the occasion.

At the end of the dances first the ladies in the audience were invited and later the men to have a small dance with the dancers and it was fun as young and old alike sportively danced

We were then led to the spot where Hangi is cooked ,Pronounced “hungi”, this traditional Maori meal is essentially a feast cooked in an earth oven for several hours., it’s a long cooking process – but the tasty, tender feast that awaits at the end is sure worth it!
To begin, a fire is lit. Once it is burned out, especially selected  volcanic stones that don’t splinter are placed in its embers to heat. Meanwhile a pit is dug in which will be placed the hot stones with wet sacking.

 The kai can include chicken, lamb, pork, seafood and vegetables (particularly kumara or sweet potato) and is placed on top of the stones, then topped with earth to trap the heat. Traditionally, the food has to be wrapped in leaves and then arranged in baskets made of flax, these days baking foil and steel mesh are more commonly used.
A hangi is cooked for three to four hours, depending on the quantity of food being cooked. The result of this long cooking process is tender, off-the-bone meat and delicious vegetables, all infused with a smoky, earthy fragrance.

Dinner was served in one of Te Puia’s two restaurants. Our dining room was spacious and well lit. Our group had our assigned tables so we knew exactly where to go. Tables were beautifully set and as drink orders were being taken by the efficient staff, appetisers of mussels, corn and bread were placed on each table to stimulate our taste buds .
As I love drinking soups , I immediately took a steaming hot bowl of soup made of a mix of sea food thick and creamy and yummy ,in fact the bestest soup I had till now. All through the dinner, our female host sang lovely songs about Maori culture ,using a musical instrument
When we were ready for the main event, dinner was served buffet style, there was a literal feast, chicken, lamb, pork, potato bake, kumara, rice, a variety of salads, New Zealand mussels, corn on the cob, traditional rewana bread and dips, and a local drink made from kawakawa extract and manuka honey. wine, beer, juices, tea and coffee and  and fresh prawns to name a few.
 Platters were refilled regularly and we could go back and refill our plates to our heart’s content
Dessert was pavlova, pecan pie, chocolate mousse, puddings, ice cream and all the accompaniments.
Finally replete with culture, food and geothermal wonders ,we strolled back to our bus to rest for that night

GEYSERS AND MUD POOLS- NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

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After the visit to the Agrodome ,we returned to our hotel for a small power nap after a light lunch as Tony had told us that we are in for a early Hangi dinner
Few of our members had gone for shopping and joined us at the Te Puia which is an iconic destination for visitors and fits its role as Kaitiaki (guardian) of Māori culture for future generations.
We were met by the two guides who were apparently  descendents of Rotorua’s earliest hosts.
After walking through the gates of Te Puia, we found ourselves standing beneath  Heketanga-ā-Rangi a contemporary Māori artwork  which reached skywards with 12 monumental carvings
There we were divided into 2 batches ,one to tour the geo thermal features and the other to see the cultural village and the New Zealand national carving and weaving center.
 We were in the first batch and left to see the geysers in a motorised waka (transporter)  a sort of a  train driven by a Maori lady  very proud of her heritage
 Rotorua's volcanic activity has drawn visitors to the region for generations and when it comes to things to do in Rotorua,  people say that no visit is complete without exploring its spectacular thermal parks and attractions.
We were impressed and amazed by Rotorua's geothermal  features which included spouting geysers, bubbling mud pools and colourful sinter terraces.
 Geothermal water starts life as rainwater, which seeps down though cracks in the rock towards a heat source deep within the earth.
 Hot water is less dense than cold water, so it rises and emerges at the earth’s surface, sometimes as steam or mixed with steam.
 The hot water reacts with the rock it comes into contact with, and becomes enriched with dissolved minerals
 In 1901 the first open prison in New Zealand was established at Waiotapu, its object was to accommodate some of the better-behaved prisoners from jails of  Rotorua Lakes District.
A gang of those prisoners first discovered the clearing in which the geyser is situated and found that when they added soap to the hot water to wash their clothes, the geyser could erupt
 Geysers are a rare and spectacular phenomenon, hot springs which intermittently eject jets of boiling water and steam into the air. Their name is related to the Icelandic word geysa, meaning ‘to gush or spout’
 At Te Puia, Rotorua, the magma is only 6-7 kilometres below the Earth’s crust which accounts for all the activity of the surface.
Pōhutu, meaning ‘constant splashing’ in Māori the largest active geyser in the southern hemisphere  , regularly erupts to a height of 15–30 metres, and sometimes much higher. Prince of Wales Feathers, previously named Te Tohu a few metres north of Pōhutu, began spurting in June 1886, after the Mt Tarawera eruption probably triggered by earthquakes.

 Originally it was known as the Indicator, as it normally played shortly before Pōhutu erupted, but in 1901 it was renamed in honour of the royal visit that year. Since 1992 it has played almost continuously erupting to heights of up to 7 metres (21 feet)
Pōhutu is the most reliable geyser on Earth and eruptions last from a few minutes to much longer. About 15 years ago, Pōhutu erupted for over 250 days.
 Pōhutu has been visited by royalty and many other famous people. However, because nearby residents used bores to tap into the valley’s geothermal resources, Pōhutu was once at grave risk of losing its power. Fortunately, a program to close bores ensured that  Pōhutu continues to impress visitors once or twice an hour.

We had a fair share of looking at Pohutu erupting
Near the geyser there were rocks and our guide playfully asked us all to have a hot seat and relax our weary bodies for some time, all of us sat on the warm stones but two of our friends  shot up quickly and started rubbing their backs with embarrassed grins, we came to know that these rocks also tend to have cracks conveying the heat directly to the cracks in the stones LOL!
In the 19th century there were an estimated 220 of these erupting hot springs in New Zealand, but by 2004 only 58 remained. Whakarewarewa is now the only major remaining geyser field as most of the remaining geysers have been damaged or affected by human activity, especially withdrawing steam or hot water for heating
We went past the geysers to Ngā mōkai-ā-Koko, Te Puia’s largest mud pool. The mud in this pool was dark because it contained small quantities of black sulphur .The bubbling mud was like a live thing playfully pouting and spouting mud like naughty babies do. It was mesmerising to watch and we couldn’t take our eyes off it

I was thinking maybe after I die and go to hell it would look like this with sulphur smells, gushing geysers and bubbling mud pools , anyway let me face it when it comes I thought and brushing away the morbid thought I went ahead for a look at the elusive Kiwi bird because a visit to New Zealand wouldn’t be complete without meeting the national icon.

 Kiwi birds are nocturnal and incredibly shy .The kiwi is a nocturnal flightless bird and New Zealand’s national icon.
 Years ago there were about 12 million kiwi, but today there are fewer than 100,000 and this national icon is endangered.
The kiwi  bird is an important cultural icon to all New Zealanders, who call themselves ‘Kiwis’. In the late 1800s, the kiwi started being used as a trademark, and featured on one of the first pictorial stamps issued.

 During the early 1900s, New Zealand was depicted in sporting and other cartoons as a kiwi. During the First World War, New Zealand soldiers started being referred to as Kiwis.
Next we went on to the other guide our groups interchanged and we were shown around the  village and centres
Te Puia houses the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, established in the 1920s to foster all aspects of Māori culture. At Te Puia, national schools of carving, weaving and other traditional arts train talented students from around New Zealand under the guidance of master crafts persons

Traditionally, weaving and carving were vital Māori arts but by the 1920 they were in danger of extinction. Established in 1926, the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute at Te Puia has seen carving, weaving and other traditional Māori art forms not only survive but thrive.
At the National Wood Carving School we could  see this prestigious art form being handed down from master carvers to young trainees. We watched as students practiced this  traditional Māori art .
At the National Stone and Bone Carving School students learn the revered tradition of carving pounamu (New Zealand greenstone), bone and stone. Students in this school also explore other materials and technical processes, including casting.

At the national weaving school students learn the ancient art of Māori weaving. We watched with fascination the weavers at work and interacted with them as they created garments of great beauty.
The flax weaving section had a very good display of woven items made from flax leaves - floor mats, grass skirts were created in a jiffy

The 3 ladies showed us how leaves were stripped into thin fibers which then were used for weaving.

PARADISE VALLEY SPRINGS NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

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After the visit to Glenbrook we proceeded to Rotorua ,on the way we stopped  at a place called Matamata, a town in the shadow of the Kaimai Range Mountains, on New Zealand’s North Island.

 Southwest of this town, the Hobbiton Movie Set was created for Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films.

What was striking for me in New Zealand was that some places were similar to our local language

‘Matamata in  our Telugu language means being angry’

 As our itinerary was different we had a quick lunch with fish and chips and walked across to the park nearby, waiting for all our bus mates to come we did some window shopping and found quaint little paintings and other items done by local artists some of whom were found relaxing on easy chairs in the grass and doing their business cheerfully

We next went to Paradise Valley Springs which is Rotorua's must-see wildlife park. It is a 50 acred beautifully maintained park where we could interact with animals found wild around New Zealand,   This family-friendly attraction, set amid native bush, provided easy access along flat walkways in all types of weather and for people of all ages .

 We fell in love with this place, as it was very beautiful . We walked 2 hours around feeding and photographing very sociable farm animals - Alpacas  ducks, deer, wallebies, sheep, lamas, which were interestingly looking very friendly and they looked as if they were waiting to greet us and with us !

The girl who was looking after the farm animals though she said she had joined recently seemed to be very familiar with all the animals and was calling them all by their names . New Zealand has no native livestock, but a wide range of animals have been imported Farming is New Zealand's primary industry

There were an array of New Zealand and exotic wildlife, native birds in the aviary and waterfowl wetlands , We visited the Kea, New Zealand’s infamous and comical alpine parrots in their walk-through aviary, we found them preening themselves with gay abandon

Flowing through Paradise Valley Springs was the Ngongotaha Stream which is the major trout spawning stream for Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti and approximately 20,000 trout spawn in this stream annually.

The Trout were totally wild and were free to come and go as they wish. There were hundreds of Rainbow and Brown trout in the natural stream as well as in the spring-fed display pools, and we could view them at eye level through an underwater window below their pool. We also spotted some large native long-finned eels lazing in their pools. 

Paradise Valley Springs had its own natural freshwater spring, Te Waireka (meaning Sweet Water).  Flowing from deep underground at a rate of 60 litres every second, this pure water provides a never ending supply to the trout pools, coffee shop and water bottling plant.

With glasses she had brought with her, our guide gave us pure New Zealand water from Te Waireka spring, we could also if we chose, take some bottled water away with us for friends and family to taste.

Long ago, before European settlement, local Maori tribes would bring their battle wounded warriors to Te Waireka spring to drink, as they believed these waters had healing qualities

Scientific testing showed the water from Te Waireka spring to be of a very high quality with excellent mineral contents.  In 2003 a small bottling plant began producing bottled water

Winding through open pasture areas alongside the Ngongotaha trout stream, the walkway was very wide with viewing areas  for the tourists to enjoy the beautiful setting.

We then went to the rainforest Treetops Walk. the solid boardwalk which was up to six metres (20 feet) off the ground in places, putting us right up in the tree canopy.We felt as if we were on top of the trees

The elevated walkway wound itself around mature native Tawa trees which were several hundred years old, through tangled vines and native plants, before lowering back down to ground level and exiting alongside a peaceful stretch of the Ngongotaha Stream. Along the walkway we found some old huts arranged in a very natural way

 In a separate area of the park there was a pride of African Lions, seen all day in an enclosure that allowed us to get very close to these wild animals. Lion feeding was at 2.30pm everyday which we unfortunately missed narrowly

THE AGRODOME TOUR NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

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From the Luge rides down the Mt. Ngongotata, we went straight for the Agrodome visit. As soon as we got there, we were issued instructions how to proceed with the tour there  and how much time would we be spending there

The Agrodome is a 350-acre sheep farm located 10 km from Rotorua.

 It all started in 1970 when world champion sheep shearer Godfrey Bowen produced a show at World Expo in Osaka, Japan. His ‘Sheep Show’ was such a hit that Godfrey together with his friend and fellow farmer George Harford created a permanent home for it. The Agrodome opened its doors to tourists and Kiwis alike in 1971.

 In 1980 tragedy struck and a devastating fire completely destroyed the first Agrodome building. But undeterred, while the building was still smouldering, Ivan Bowen said, “the show must go on” and performed his famous sheep show on a hillside, to an audience of over 100!

In 1983, Warren Harford and Paul Bowen,sons of original founders of  Agrodome, joined the Agrodome team and started the second generation of this family business.

The Agrodome has won the coveted New Zealand Tourism Award for the New Zealand's Best Visitor Attraction a number of times; it is also a real working sheep and cattle farm with 1200 sheep and 120 beef cattle.

 As it was getting time for the sheep and the dog show we all gathered near the fence to watch a live dog trial where proficient farm dogs the border collies skillfully herded  the poor sheep through a number of obstacles, coming blissfully in between, there was a duck with its ducklings coming in the way of the exasperated dogs,it was very amusing

We then headed inside for an hour sheep show, it had a huge indoor stage with lots of seating and a pretty nice view for most ages and sizes. We sat quite close to the front as we wanted to ensure that we got to see the show well

Dressed in iconic black singlet, shearer's jeans and shearer's moccasins,our  cheerful and hefty host a shearer was very lively and informative ,helped by the live translation service offered through headphones in Korean, German, Japanese and Mandarin.

The host first introduced us to the various variety of sheep from around the world at the same time explaining the specialty of each one. During the one-hour show we were shown the range of New Zealand sheep breeds  

Rare breeds at the Agrodome included:

Arapawa Sheep, A Rare Breed of New Zealand Origin, Dorset Horn Sheep, A Rare Breed of British Origin, Damara Sheep, A Rare Breed of African Origin, Karakul Sheep, A Rare Breed of Middle Eastern Origin,Dorper Sheep, A Rare Breed of South African Origin,Drysdale Sheep, A Minority Breed of New Zealand Origin,Gotland Pelt Sheep,  A Rare Breed of Baltic Origin,Jacob Sheep, Origin unknown,Pitt Island Sheep, A Rare Breed of New Zealand Origin. 

 It was amazing to see how the sheep when called, fell in line and climbed to their designated spot in the stage and started munching on their goodies placed in bowls before them ,we were amused to see some sheep snatching the bowl of other sheep too ,I thought pigs are not only the ones greedy !

The host explained that some of the sheep had wool which had a very high rate in the market

We were entranced as he demonstrated the way to shear a sheep who tried its best to wriggle away from his clutches ,at the end of the shearing I didn't realise how much wool came off a sheep .The poor sheep tottered off deprived of its wool covering looking  utterly miserable “never mind you will grow it back again” was the comforting thought I sent across to it, At every stage our host  who was helped by two pretty petite girls was involving the audience and calling us onto the stage

After the shearing, few men and women from the tourists were called on to the stage to milk an enormous big eyed cow who looked vexed and impatient but luckily didn’t kick anyone

Then the children were called and given milk bottles to feed small lambs it was indeed funny to see the lambs following the kids but the Marys were too timid to withstand the onslaught of the hungry lambs and were ready to break into tears

During all this, the dogs were seen sitting at their allotted places very disdainfully and jumped over the sheep when called for , the show was genuinely entertaining

After the show we could get onto the stage and pet the sheep which were plump and heavy and could easily eat out our hands if they wanted to but they sat watching us very placidly

At the end cackling merrily the duck arrived with its flock

On the way out we could see the nursery where we could see the young animals the lambs and the alpacas being looked after so well

We visited the Woollen Mill and could see authentic Platt wool-carding machine from 1906 and learnt how wool gets from a sheep’s back to our own ,saw a demonstration of wool processing and spinning using wool shorn from sheep during the farm Show.

 The Woollen Mill had a range of homespun, hand knitted/woven garments along with handcrafted footwear, rugs, knitting and weaving kits. Many of the products in the Woollen Mill were made of pure New Zealand wool ,be it sheep, alpaca, opossum or angora..

There was a Dog and Whistle Gift Shop selling Sheepskin products, Lanolin creams, Woollen clothing, Leather goods and New Zealand souvenirs

There were other activities at the site like farm tours and carthorse trips but we only had time for the shows.

Finally we left the place feeling definitely very wooly ! During our tour around New Zealand I had wanted to stop many times to take pictures of sheep and get close but the time or driving conditions didn’t permit. The visit to the Agrodome satisfied this desire to get close to the sheep