After our tiring caving experience we hopped back on the bus on our way to mourea, for our Maori cultural experience. This was not like something I've ever done before and don't imagine ever will do again! I kept thinking 'am I dreaming?' 'Is this actually happening?!' It was so funny!
We were greeted by 2 of the Maori family. They speak another language and throughout were trying to teach us. They are covered in tribal tattoos and if they have them on their face, this means they are highly important. So we were given a welcome speech about what to expect, we were told the Maori family were waiting inside the house for us, but we were not allowed to enter until we had been blessed and officially joined their family..
To do this, one by one we had to take our shoes off, walk up to the front, have a blessing in Maori and then touch noses twice with each family member! You have to be careful, if you touch noses three times, that means you're married!! We were trying not to laugh! It was all very serious.
After the blessing we then had food (a yummy roast chicken dinner). Then after that we all sat down whilst watching a Maori performance they did for us. This included costumes, musical instruments, lots of thigh slapping and singing! All of course in Maori so we couldn't understand what they were saying. They were incredibly talented and the performance was incredible to watch. My favourite part was when they performed the famous Haka! If you watch rugby you will know what this is. If not, Google it. It was amazing! We then split into two groups, the boys learnt the haka and the girls learnt poy (what can only be described as a soft ball on the end of a string that you swing around and hit against parts of your body to make noises!). We each then performed our learnt songs / dances to each other. It was so much fun! After that we sat around listening the stories from one of the maori's before going to bed... I say bed, I mean floor! Now that we were one big family we had to all sleep together in one room. We were laid like sardines (about 40 of us) on the floor with a sleeping bag and pillow. It's safe to say I did not sleep much that night due to snorers and being soooo cold! It was like sleeping outside. All in all however it was a great experience though! I have learnt a lot about the history and culture of New Zealand :-)