Maori Excursion: Tauranga, New Zealand

Maori Performance: This song and dance is to scare off any enemies instead of fighting.

Tauranga, NZ
ms Amsterdam
February 8, 2013

"Glorious Bay of Plenty: Rich Land, Rich Culture" is the title of the shore excursion
we took today. We were to visit a Maori family, descendants of the migrants who first
arrived by ocean-going canoes (wakas) from central Polynesia more than 650 years
ago, spend time at a kiwi farm and finish at a "stunning coastal headland site of a
centuries-old Maori fortification." We chose this a couple of months ago evidently
thinking we should learn more about the Maoris. Well, fooled us. Our guide, Charlie,
went rogue.


We did indeed drive from the port southeast past dairy farms, fields of maize and
whatever else was hidden behind the hedgerows of Japanese cedar trees. (more about
that later.) There are the usual "bumps," the green hills that are actually long-dormant
volcanoes (although the last eruption was 750 years ago, technically the volcanoes are
not extinct), in the terrain. Where once Maoris lived in villages atop the volcanic hills,
there are now houses and farms. The terrain is very similar to that between Vacaville
and Vallejo off of I-80 in Northern California. The weather is similar, too, but with a lot
more rain, 60 inches per year.

Our bus drove through a couple of little towns and then took a turn into a residential
area ringing a bay on the coastline. And in the middle of a block, the bus stopped and
Charlie told us to hop off for a view of the bay and estuary with the sea beyond. He led
us down someone's driveway, through their side garden and out to the seaside of the
house. The houses are all on the edge of a cliff, on long and narrow lots. Good lord! 40
of us were standing in someone's front yard! And then Charlie began to chit chat about
this and that and when he invited us to help ourselves to the peaches on the tree we
realized that we were standing in Charlie's front yard!

Charlie and his wife bought the place twenty years ago and used it as a vacation and
rental. His wife is still practicing law, but Charlie is retired from the NZ Department of
Agriculture, so they now live there full time. Mrs. Charlie leaves Monday morning at 5
or 6 am for the 2-1/2 hour drive to Auckland and then returns to the seaside Thursday
evening. Charlie, like so many of our guides on this cruise, works occasionally for the
cruise line.

We did indeed go to the kiwi farm, which doubles as a tourist stop to promote the fruit
industry of NZ. We had scones with kiwi jam and a cup of tea, shopped in the store
and then settled in a lovely courtyard where we met the Maori family, three sisters and
their brother, who sang and danced and were utterly charming. The dancing is more abrupt than a graceful hula. They are constantly moving their hands as if doing the
beauty queen wave, except with hands at their sides both during and in between the
dances. This represents both the life force entering their bodies and their ancestors
sending energy to them. One of the dances is quite aggressive and was supposed to
scare away enemies. Worked for me. The dancers open their eyes very wide with fierce
expressions on their faces. During all the numbers they sang traditional Maori songs.
There was a professional troupe of Maori dancers and singers on board one night doing
a similar performance but we all enjoyed these young people a lot more.

Here is a sheared line of Japanese cedars that protect the kiwis from wind, cold, etc

We did spend some time in a kiwi orchard. The fruit is grown on big vines on supported
by wire a couple of meters off the ground. The orchards themselves are protected
by "sheltabouts" or severely trimmed trees that are planted very close to each other
in rows around the orchards. They're like living walls as tall as the telephone lines,
sheered straight up and down on each side and across the top. The "hedges" are so
dense that you can't see through them while driving down the road. Oh, and FYI, the
telephone poles are made of aluminum so the possums can't climb them and chew the
wires.

By the time we finished learning about kiwis, it was past time to return to the ship so
we took the shore road directly back. The bays are h-u-g-e all over this area, a very
popular vacation spot with miles of beaches, surf board and bike rentals. Summer
vacation just ended so the kids are back in school and the beaches are quite sparsely
populated. It looked like Newport Beach in late September: perfect weather and empty
beaches.

Guess we'll just have to Google "Maori fortification."

We were supposed to sail at 4:30 this afternoon but the tides are not favorable so we
won't be leaving until 6 putting us into Napier tomorrow a bit later than scheduled.
Potato, potahto, no one's going to lose sleep over this development.

One more thing...this being New Zealand with 4-1/2 million people and 30 or so million
sheep, the McDonalds sell lamb burgers.