New Zealand, the land of Kiwis: the birds, the fruit, and the people

My last week in Sydney was absolutely wonderful and filled with all of my favorite aspects of Sydney life. I rode the ferry one last time, went to all my favorite markets, waved goobye to my beloved Gladesville bridge, blew farewell kisses to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and took pictures of all my favorite places. I realized the night before I left while I was packing how not okay I was with leaving Australia. The only thing that made it a little better was the anticipation that the next morning I would get to experience a whole new country, New Zealand!

I had always heard New Zealand described by Australians as a "wannabe Australia" but I quickly learned that that was so far from the truth. New Zealand is it's own unique and beautiful country. When arrived in Auckland, New Zealand the time difference from Australia made it that we just had time to go to dinner and then either wander around Auckland or play games at the YHA hostel. Auckland itself isn't that exciting, but we did manage to find a random karaoke place to spice up the evening!

Our first full day we went to the Auckland museum and then headed to Whackatane (the wh= f sound, then everything else is just sounded out) where we visited our first Maori Marae called Tangataua. The Maori people are the longest known culture in New Zealand which makes them the indigenous owners even though they migrated there by boat from Thailand hundreds of years ago. A Marae is their sacred meeting place and it's members are all members of the family. A Maori person might belong to four or five Marae's because of both their parents, and both sets of grandparents. They are all related. We had to be welcomed onto the Marae with a ceremony that included the eldest woman singing us on and then a ceremony where we faced opposite the Maori people and did a series of speeches and songs. As visitors we had to go first and since the Maori culture is patriarichal only males were allowed to speak. After our speaker addressed our hosts we all had to stand and sing them a song showing our support for what our speaker said. It was very interesting. Two men from our group spoke and then our hosts did the same. Then we all lined up and did the hangi with each of the Marae family members. The hangi is their greeting which is literally "sharing breath." You press your nose and forehead together with one hand shaking theirs, and the other on their arm. We were all pretty apprehensive about the hangi, especially those of us with personal space bubbles, but it was a really sweet greeing once we did it with them. Once that was over they told us that we were officially part of the Marae and were welcome anytime. We had to arrive before dark because they still held to the old custom that those who come at night are enemies.

We had dinner with them in a house that felt to me like a camp mess-hall. Everyone pitched in and helped serve the food and then we all ate together on these long cafeteria like tables. The kai (food) was so delicious! They made us two different soups, fried bread, roast, two different pastas, salads, and crumble for dessert. After we were all certain that we were going to bust from the amazing kai we cleaned up (as part of the new family we were expected to pitch in and help) and the we all piled into the sacred house to hear stories of their culture. We all slept in there together along with some of the visiting members of the Marae and in Maori tradition slept female-male, then eldest- youngest, with our heads facing the walls. We all piled on our mattresses and settled in to hear stories of their culture. We heard about their supreme deity, stories about their totem, and different customs they adhere to. I slept better that night than I had in a long time. There was something peaceful about all sleeping together sharing mattresses and hearing their stories. Nothing unclean was allowed to enter where we were sleeping so shoes had to be left outside and no food or drink was allowed to enter. They also had their weddings and funerals there. When Patrick (one of the elders) woke us up the next morning (an hour earlier then we had to!!) he woke us up with gentle singing and turning the lights on slowing while we all adjusted to the morning. It was the best way I've ever waken up!

We had breakfast and then Donna (one of the sisters) taught us a Maori song and dance to perform at the farewell ceremony. They were all pleased that we learned one of their songs and it was really special. We did the hangi on last time and then we waved goodbye from our bus and headed to Rotorua home of natural hot springs and the lovely smell of sulfar. In Rotorua we had another Marae experience that was quite different from the first. We went to Mitere Tours with a Maori man and his nephew who do a tour of their Marae, the hot springs surrounded it, and the churches that were founded by missionaries long ago. The Marae is right in the city and tourists kept wandering in not realizing that it was a sacred space and since Mitere Tours gifted the land to the city, they decided to do these tours to maintain their privacy and satisfy curiousity. It was nice to have the customs we had already done at the first marae explained in a tour setting. Once again there was more delicious kai and our corn was cooked right in the hot springs outside. That night we had another tour called Tamaki tour which was actually more of a dinner show showcasing the Maori culture. It started with the traditional haka performed by the warriors and then we were invited in to wander around a recreated ancient Maori village until the show and dinner. The haka is a Maori war dance designed to evoke fear and intimidation into the enemy but also to center the warrior and help them focus. It is actually really neat and the All Blacks New Zealand rugby team still does this before matches. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4LNjNXt1yM&feature=fvst) The show was a performance of some Maori song and dances and then we headed to the dinner where they did on final song with us before we left.

Another part of our visit to New Zealand was to Te Puia to see "Old Faithful's cousin", the largest geiser in the Southern Hemisphere also home to natural hot springs, and natural hot mud baths. We also got a chance to hike an old volcanic mountain, Mangere Mountain. It used to be the home of indigenous Maori tribes and there were still some signs of their presence there where their food would have been stores, shells they laid on paths to prevent the enemy to be able to sneak up during the night, and an old fortress. The view was absolutely breathtaking and it looks right over Sydney. On our way back to Auckland we got to stop in Hobbiton, Matamata, the home of Lord of the Rings!! We all hopped off the bus and took lots of pictures with the "Welcome to Hobbiton" sign with a Gollum statue beside it and in the seat that makes it look like you were wearing Gandolf's hat. It was a fun pit stop.

On our free day a group of girls and I took the ferry across the Auckland harbour to Devonport to explore another volcanic mountain, the oldest in New Zealand at North Head. The mountain had WWII caves and tunnels in it from when New Zealand used it in WWII. The caves were pretty creepy and dark inside but some of the artillery and guns were still on disply and the caves and tunnels were pretty neat. That night we had our farewell dinner and last session together and it hit everyone that we were going home the next morning. We had a 6am flight and had to leave the YHA at 4am and since we didn't finish our final session until midnight most of us took advantage of the opportunity to spend final time together crowded into our rooms or playing games in the lobby. It was a really good last night.The 40 hours travel to get home, not so great, our last night all together was wonderful.

New Zealand is definitely not a miniature Australia. It is beautiful in its own way!