Last night I adventured out to Tamaki Maori village, which is just outside Rotorua.
The evening begins where the Maori tribe arrive to greet you and your chosen chief. This has to be an English speaking male!! You are then taken into the village where you are shown to different houses and how they live. One of the houses is showing you the huka and the dance moves,you then move on to see how they cook their food underground, how it's stored and what they eat. Your shown warrior dances and moves, what their weapons means and how they kill their prey. There is also how they weave and make baskets etc etc. Also what games and entertainment they have. This is where I got picked out to play a game of sticks!! Basically they call out a nuku mahue ( which means to the left) and me Tika (move to the right) you have to grab the stick which has been left behind by your opponent!!! And of course I won.....
You then get taken to the final preparation of your food being cooked which has been kept underground for 6-7 hours. It was delicious. There was sweet potato, chicken, lamb, fish, carrots, with additional salad, followed by pavlova and Maori teas, and of course wines and beers....We then had an entertaining evening of singing and dancing.
A great night out....