After our few nights in Rotorua, we opted to do the special Maori experience at Lake Aniwhenua for the night (this was optional and you could have skipped it!) It wasn’t too far from Rotorua, and we’d hopped on a new bus (which was broken and replaced with a weird temporary bus making crazy noises and no seat belts! We were stuck with this for the remainder of the North Island), and the new driver was really nice, as well as the people on the bus. We stopped to collect people who had taken part in rafting that day, as well as pick up our local guide, who directed us to first stop off to see some ancient Maori carvings, as we made our way into the territory of her tribe, stopping off in the main village. Our home for the night was Kohatapu Lodge, which we had all to ourselves for the night. We were greeted by the (very lively and friendly!) host, and we played a little group game of volleyball while we checked in and chose our rooms. Before we began the nights activities, we witnessed the making of the Hangi, which is a traditional, celebratory way of cooking food in the ground, covering it with material and soil to ensure it cooks! The meat and veg all went into the ground, ready to be cooked, but we had a few hours to wait until it could be eaten! While we waited, we had opted to do a few activities, the first of which was to learn a Haka, one of the traditional war dances of the Maori people. David was even given a speaking part! It was easy to learn, but pretty hard to perform as you had to look really stern and angry all the time! I also kept doing the wrong part as the boys stood in front of the girls and I followed them, even though our moves were supposed to be slightly different! Somewhere a recording of this exists, but I won’t be seeking it out anytime soon! After our ‘performance’, we headed inside to make our own traditional bracelet from a kind of leaf, which we weaved together.

It was then finally time to retrieve the Hangi from the ground and get to work on the feast, which was delicious! In the day, and passing through the village, we’d learnt how the town used to be thriving with a timber industry but it had now declined and many who lived there were in poverty. When the lodge had guests and made a Hangi feast, all the leftovers (they made it massive for this purpose), were arranged into lunch boxes to be given to a nearby Primary School the next day, so the local families were supported by this tourism to their region. Some of the money from our stay there also helped local children take a trip on a Stray bus to see the whole of New Zealand, as well as a planned trip overseas. It was sad to only spend one night there, but after some drinks and chatter with our guide, we headed to bed.

The next morning, after packing all of our bags, we headed to the local Primary School to both gift the leftovers from the Hangi to the children, as well as take part in some activities that the children chose! My group decided they wanted to do lots of activities, so we played hopscotch, basketball, dressed up and did some maths?! I got into conversation with the class teacher and told her that I too am a Primary School teacher, so she promptly whipped some maths resources out for me to look at!!

Highlights: learning about how our tourism helps the town and local community, the Hangi feast, Haka, playing volleyball and activities with the children

Accomodation: Kohatapu Lodge, Lake Aniwhenua