February 28, 2026
Tauranga was a delight, and the highlight of our visit to New Zealand. When we docked, we were met by this group doing Maori songs and dances, and doing them well. At least they looked good to us.
We took about a one-hour bus ride from Tauranga to a Maori village. While we were still in town, the driver pointed out this small volcano that they say, is extinct.
We left town along miles of beaches, most with surfers.
The driver pointed out kiwi fields. They put up poles and string and the kiwi vines grow up them. Reminded us of how they grow hops in the US.
Alongside the kiwi fields, they plant 15–20-foot hedges they call wind stops to protect the plants. Reminded us of the homes we almost saw in Beverly Hills.
When we arrived at the Maori village, we were greeted by costumed warriors who performed a traditional greeting and welcoming ceremony. It includes threatening steps and gestures and swinging staves. Then their leader lays a leaf on the ground and the designated leader of our group steps forward, picks up, and then rejoins our group by backing up. We were cautioned in advance that they took this seriously, and we were told not to walk, talk, or laugh during the ceremony. It was impressive. We also noted its resemblance to the way Harry Potter met Buckbeak, and wondered if J K Rowling consciously incorporated this ceremony in her book.
Once we entered the village, we were told about Maori history and shown Maori games. They discussed Maori tattoos. These cover a good part of their bodies. From the eyebrows down, they record family history and relationships – siblings, parents, grandparents and so on. From about the eyebrows up they document the person’s skills and achievements, such as a great warrior or a skilled navigator. Tattoos were done by cutting the skin with a shell and rubbing in a combination of soot, fish oil, and other ingredients. A medicinal plant leaf was put over the healing tattoo to reduce infection, and the process was repeated for a total of there times. It was painful. Today they use conventional tattooing techniques.
One game they showed us was to hold a cord fastened to a ball, swinging the ball around your wrist, and occasionally catching it in your other hand. The trick was to do this in time to music and to speed it up. Another was to simply form a circle of several people, each of whom holds a stick about four feet long with one end on the ground. You then let go of your stick and grab the next one, using one hand or the other or turning or going left or right as directed by a caller. Watching geriatrics try to do this was almost as much fun as giving a dog a teaspoonful of peanut butter.
We then saw them sing and dance. They were very good, and we liked their music. The man in the background who is making a traditional threatening face is their leader.
We were then treated to a hangi lunch which included ‘hangi’ baskets filled with seasonal meats and vegetables that were cooked in this pit. The whole thing was delicious.
Dessert included a Maori bread pudding that was like gingerbread but was based on more on brown sugar than ginger. It’s in the pot on the left at the back. Of course, they served Pavlova, which is in the front. Mal had two servings of the bread pudding
On the way back to the QM2, we saw several pools and lakes associated with New Zealand’s volcanic activity. The light-colored shoal in the lake is mostly sulfur. The steam is rising from a hot pool right in the middle of a town.
Next stop, Sydney,
Dottie and Mal
