Whakarewarewa

On Sunday we first visited the Whakarewarewa Maori village. I didn’t know pretty much anything about the Maori culture before so it was so nice to get to know some things about it. First we had a guided tour around the village where the guide told us about their way of living, cooking, bathing as well as some history and facilities. One of the most interesting things to learn was the Maori alphabet. They have only 13 letters (a, e, h, i, k, m, n, o, p, r, t, u, w) and also two letters that form one sound (wh, ng). The guide made us repeat some words and for me it’s quite easy to pronounce the Maori words because they sound (at least in my opinion) like they could be Finnish so I know how to pronounce them. And the names of some places are the same, easy to pronounce. For example Rotorua, Takapuna, Punakaiki, Mount Ruapehu, Piha, Paihia… See, they sound like Finnish, right? :D

After the guided tour, there was a little cultural performance of the Maori people. They sang and did some dancing. And we also got to participate in Poi dance. ‘Poi’ is a ball with a small rope that they use with the dancing.

After the Maori village, we walked to the Redwoods and did another walk over there. This time it was a bit longer than the previous day and totally worth it! We ended up in a lookout where we saw the whole city area. It was such a great view!