Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ohinemutu
MAP
MAORI VILLAGE
Ohinemutu is a ramshackle lakeside Maori village (access via Kiharoa, Haukotuku
or Korokai Sts off Lake St, north of Rotorua Hospital) that traces the fusing of European
and Maori cultures. Highlights include the sacred 1905
Tama-te-kapua Meeting House
(not open
to visitors), plenty of steaming volcanic vents, and the historic timber
St Faith's Anglican
8am-6pm, services 9am Sun & 10am Wed)
, which features intricate Maori carvings,
tukutuku
(woven panels) and a stained-glass window of Christ wearing a Maori cloak as he walks
on the waters of Lake Rotorua.
Be respectful if you're visiting the village: this is private land, and locals don't appreci-
ate loud, nosy tourists wandering around taking photos.
MAORI NZ: ROTORUA & THE BAY OF PLENTY
The Bay of Plenty's traditional name, Te Rohe o Mataatua, recalls the ancestral
Mataatua
canoe, which arrived
here from Hawaiki to make an eventful landfall at Whakatane. The region's history stretches back further than
that, though, with the Polynesian settler Toi setting up what's claimed to be Aotearoa's first settlement in about
AD 800.
Major tribal groups in the region are the
Ngati Awa
(
www.ngatiawa.iwi.nz
) of the Whakatane area,
Whakato-
hea
(
www.whakatohea.co.nz
) of Opotiki,
Ngai Te Rangi
(
www.ngaiterangi.org.nz
) of Tauranga, and
Te Arawa
(
www.tearawa.iwi.nz
)
of Rotorua. Tribes in this region were involved on both sides of the Land Wars of the late
19th century, with those fighting against the government suffering considerable land confiscations that have
caused legal problems right up to the present day.
There's a significant Maori population around the region, and many ways for travellers to engage with Maori
culture. Opotiki has Hiona St Stephen's Church (
Click here
) − the death here of government spy Reverend Carl
Volkner in 1865 inspired the charming eyeball-eating scene in
Utu
. Whakatane has a visitor-friendly main-street
marae
(
Click here
) (meeting house complex) and Toi's Pa, perhaps NZ's oldest
pa
(fortified village) site. Rotorua
has traditional Maori villages,
hangi
and cultural performances aplenty.
Activities
Extreme Sports
Rotorua Canopy Tours
MAP
EXTREME SPORTS
GOOGLE MAP
(
07-343 1001, 0800 226 679;
www.canopytours.co.nz
;
173 Old Taupo Rd; 3hr tours per adult/child/family $129/85/
8am-8pm Oct-Apr, 8am-6pm May-Sep)
Explore a 1.2km web of bridges, flying foxes, zip-
399;
