Tamaki Tours: Rotorua Hangi and Concert
- January 10, 2008
- Rated 3 of 5 by
TLM2008 from Toronto, Ontario
A visit to the Tamaki Maori village with Hangi and concert was a great way to spend the evening overall - especially as I was travelling with my Mom at the time. The only significant downfall of the evening was that on the bus ride back to Rotorua the bus driver made us sing Oh Canada (I should never be allowed to sing in public, much less forced); I tell you this partly so you understand that this is very much an organized tourist attraction with staff that try to "get you involved" throughout the evening. But it was a great night despite the fact that it was a mega tourist attraction. The whole evening was well done: we were picked up from our hotel and taken to the Maori village out of town. Upon approach to the village we were engaged in a "challenge" by the Maori tribe, as is customary in the culture. You have a chance to see a Maori warrior dance with his paihia and make a peace offering to the group. You are then welcomed into the "village" where you see people gathered around huts and fires, engaged in a variety of games. We learned that each game is fun but has a purpose: develop reaction times, enhance peripheral vision, strengthen the forearms etc. to make better warriors of the players. The concert was informative and entertaining and you can never get too much of the Haka. The food at the concert (the Hangi) was very good (surprisingly good from my perspective!). We dined on chicken, kumara, carrot, potato and steamed pudding with custard - all cooked using a traditional hangi-open fire/hot stone method. All in all it was a good night and we came home with full tummies and a greater understanding of the ancient Maori culture. In my four months in New Zealand I found Rotorua to be one of the most useful cities for learning about Maori customs and traditions and this evening out presents a nice crash course on these things. It's a costly enough evening at $95 but is worth the money, in my opinion.
From journal Rotorua, New Zealand