Kia Ora

 Wednesday, December 27, 2023

morning we docked in Tauranga, NZ and our excursion for today was a M'aori Cultural Experience.  We came into port just before 10 a.m. and really, the views were spectacular!

The waters are a beautiful blue and that little island rising up out of the harbor is just SO New Zealand.

Smaller cruise ship next to us in port at Tauranga

Island rising out of the harbor at Tauranga

I got up early this morning to do a couple of loads of laundry before anything else.  Carl and I talked about this last night and figured it would be better to do some laundry today, rather than waiting for our at sea day tomorrow when everyone else is likely to want to do laundry.  Both loads were done & dried just after 8:30 a.m.  and by the time we wandered up to the Marketplace on Deck 16 for a late breakfast, it seems that everyone else had the same idea today.  It was WAY too crowded and we had trouble finding a table.  Carl finally found us a table actually outside on the deck next to a family of six with parents, two boys, and grandma and grandpa.  I was not in the mood for 'wired' kids this early in the day!  I sent Carl off to get his breakfast first while I held the table.  Then I went in search of something to eat, fighting crowds of people at every station.  I was 'hangry' at this point (being so hungry that your angry) and just wasn't having much luck finding anything!  I ended up with some rather wet scrambled eggs, a chorizo sausage, a selection of fresh fruit pieces, and a slice of walnut bread, a half an english muffin, and a glob of peanut butter.  By the time I got back to our table, everything I'd loaded up was cold (sigh) and the eggs were awful!  I don't know if it was some spice in the eggs or the fact that they were still too loose/wet but I couldn't eat them.  The chorizo sausage was way too spicy, so I couldn't eat that either.  Ended up just eating the bread/muffin with peanut butter and the fruit!  We're definitely NOT doing the Marketplace for breakfast tomorrow - it will be back to the formal dining room!

Our shore excursion tickets for today said we needed to be down in the Symphony dining room on Deck 5 at 12:30 p.m.  We got down there around 12:20 p.m., which meant no lunch before our tour.  They finally called our group (#20) around 12:45 to depart the ship and board our bus.

We had a local, young, Maori man as a guide who gave us an info sheet to explain what we would be experiencing this afternoon.  He welcomed us to "Tauranga Moana" (Tauranga Harbor) with a hearty "Kia Ora" which is M'aori for hello/welcome/glad to see you and sometimes thank you - a very nice all-purpose greeting.

He proceeded to give us a lesson in the M'aori pronunciation of vowels and taught us a few M'aori words.  He told us we would first be visiting a M'aori total immersion school where we would participate in a Pohiri (formal welcoming ceremony), that would be repeated again when we visited the "marae" (gathering place) for his people, called "Hangarau Marae."  It is one of 10 marae within the Ngati Ranginui tribe and is located in the township of Bethlehem (how appropriate for our Christmas cruise!)

Our (young) M'aori guide for the afternoon

M'aori total immersion school (ages 7-18)

Building on the campus of the total immersion M'aori School

Before we reached the school our guide explained the Pohiri (formal welcoming session).  He told us we needed to have a "chief" to  represent our group as our spokesman.  I tried to encourage Carl to volunteer to be our spokesman, but he really didn't want to.  Luckily, we found a gentleman in our group who was 'voluntold' to be the spokesman by his wife and voted in unanimously be the rest of us!

To begin the ceremony, we gather at the Waharoa (gateway), with our spokesman in front, followed by all of the women and then all of the men.

When we were assembled, a local "warrior" approached our group (spear in hand and very fierce looking and sounding) to make sure we were coming with peaceful intentions.  He placed a "peace offering" (a branch) on the ground and our spokesman/chief picked up the offering, signifying our whole group came in peace.

Next a M'aori female began "karanga" (a chant) to welcome our group onto the (school's) marae (gathering place).  The chant includes a moment of silence to remember the dead, and then begins again to invite us to be seated.

When we entered the marae to be seated, now all the men were seated in front, and the women had to sit in the back.  A local tribesman delivered a speech of welcome (whaikorero) in the M'aori language. Then one of the women sang a brief song "waiata" in the M'aori language. After that our spokesman/chief had to stand up and deliver a speech (thanking them for allowing us to visit and identifying us as "group 20").  And then it was OUR turn as a group to sing a song in M'aori, which our guide taught to us on the bus.  It's actually rather beautiful and based on the verses in Corinthians about love:

                                    E toru nga mea (There are three things)

                                    Nga mea nunui (That are most important)

                                    E ki ana (It is stated)

                                    Te Paipera (in the Bible)

                                    Whakapono (Faith)

                                    Tumanako (Hope)

                                    Ko te mea nui (Most important of all)

                                    Ko te aroha (Is Love)

After the speeches and songs, our chief/spokesman lead our group over for a traditional greeting ("Hongi").  The traditional hongi involves touching noses and foreheads together, but since Covid, mostly visitors just greet each other with handshakes.

When the formal greeting ceremony was done, we moved on to the fun performance part of the program with a variety of dances that they actually got us to join in on.

M'aori students dancing for us

Fierce M'aori dance to scare away enemies before a battle

One of the dances they did for us was a dance by the guys where they strike fierce poses and make ugly faces to try and scare away their enemies before a battle.

Then it was our turn for our guys to learn this fierce/facemaking dance.

At the end of all the dances, we got to go up and take pictures with the performers and I went up and made my own fierce face with one of the 'warriors'!

Fierce Facemaking!

From the school, after a photo stop to look out at the harbor from a distance, we traveled to our guide's family marae and repeated the Pohiri (formal greeting ceremony) all over again, with the representatives of the marae.  After the ceremony (and yes - we sang our song again), we were invited into their dining hall for light refreshments (tea/coffee/water/juice and some cookies) and there were some M'aori crafts for sale.  Then we entered their meeting house and had a couple of presentations on M'aori culture.  they made us all feel welcome and a part of their "whanau" (family)!

It was a great afternoon but the bus we were on was hot (AC not working well) and I was ready to come back to the ship!  Overall, a great cultural experience!