Jan 31 - Hangi and Haka

Our day wasn't done yet. We gathered outside the Marae meeting house, and watched as a group of Maori men and women welcomed us and a warrior offered a symbol of peace (silver fern) to one of three "chiefs" - one being Bob from our group. I wonder how he got chosen???

With all being well with the warrior, we entered the meeting house and were treated to a show of Maori culture - song, dance, swinging poi and weaponry, and of course, haka - the routine the the All Blacks NZ rugby team is famous for doing. The entire show was spell-binding,

Finally, it was time for dinner. We had seen the hangi earlier - it's a method of cooking food in the ground over hot rocks. The smell when the workers lifted the lid on the huge steel vessel was heavenly.

We had a fabulous dinner buffet, with hangi-cooked lamb, pork and chicken, kumara (sweet pototoes) and regular potatoes. There was a massive salad bar with salmon and prawns and shrimp and and fabulous dessert bar. I put a major dent in the vat of warm vanilla custard. I like to think I was actively supporting the New Zealand daily economy.

It was a FULL day. We are off to Wellington tomorrow.Read more