Huka and Haka: Taupo and Rotorua

Between Wellington and Rotorua, where we would be staying the next night, there were not too many attractions to stop at.  We did stop for lunch at a town called Taihape, the gumboot (what kiwis call rain boots) capitol of the world.  We couldn’t not stop at such an iconic place, so we had lunch and drove by the giant gumboot statue.  Then, we continued on to Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand.

We didn’t have enough time to really stop at Lake Taupo, but we did go to Huka Falls, which flows into the lake and is unlike a lot of the waterfalls I’ve seen.  Instead of being really tall or wide, it is a narrow waterfall with a lot of water flowing through.  It was bright blue and tons of water was flowing so fast.  It was pretty amazing to see and hear how powerful the waterfall was, so definitely a good stop on our way to Rotorua.

Huka Falls

We arrived at Rotorua in the early evening and decided we wanted to try to do something that night.  Rotorua is known for being a place with a high Maori population and there are many Maori cultural centers around the area, so we got tickets for one of dinner and performance experiences.  It was at Te Puia, which was a cultural center pretty close to where we were staying.

We went over around 6 and they brought us in and showed us our dinner, the hangi, which is how they cook their food in the groudn for a large group.  Then, we went to the performance where the chosen chief of our group, Chief Jason, had to go to the Maori chief and pick up a leaf, signifying that we come in peace.

The hangi

The Maori did a welcome dance and then we were able to go inside the building, where they did a performance.  We got to see demonstrations of some of their weapons, dances, and songs, and then at the end they asked if any men wanted to learn the haka, a war dance.  Dad got up on stage and followed along, even making the crazy faces with tongue out and big eyes.  It was pretty entertaining to watch (I put the video at the end of the post).

After the performance was over, we went to dinner, where they had prepared a huge buffet with the food from the hangi.  Dad, Mom, and Unc tried a lot of the food including eel, but my favorite part was the chocolate covered creme puffs.  After dinner, we went out to the geothermal area of Te Puia to watch to see if the geysers would erupt.  Sadly, only the small one was erupting.  We got hot chocolate though, and once it started to sprinkle we went back under a shelter and our tour guide and her husband answered questions, told us stories, and sang us songs which was a really nice end to the evening.

Overall, the experience was a really great way to get a taste of Maori culture and get to see another part of New Zealand.  I was glad we were able to fit it in, even though it wasn’t on my original itinerary.