Another very different day! We left Rotorua and the delightful Fiona (our landlady at the Hideaway Motel) fairly early this morning to make our way past Hamilton to Ngaruawahia, the home of the Maori King. We were going to attend the second day of the annual regatta, held this year for the 120th time.
It was a bit like attending the Ashby Show, an event purely for the locals, not focused on tourists at all. At 11am we had the first salute from the Maori war canoes. These were seven beautifully carved canoes from various eras, paddled by up to 30 men. The Maori King was sadly not actually present today, but there were a large number of invited VIPs present and some of these took the salute as the canoes passed the main stage. We think one was the Taiwan ambassador to NZ, but it was hard to be sure.
The races were a mixture of waka and waka ama (canoes with outriggers) events for children through to adults. By the finish line there was also a floating stage where there was a constant series of entertainers, from primary school children singing island songs to rap artists.
We paid to take a tour of the Turangawaewae Marae which is only open to the public for this one day a year. Our guide, Patti, was slightly disorganised but still gave us a good idea of what the Marae was all about. We had expected a single building, but it was actually a huge complex including spaces where they could entertain 1000 people at a time. They were preparing a major meal for the invited guests as we went round which somewhat limited what our guide could show us. It was basically like Buckingham Palace but for the Maori King, including buildings for administration, entertainment, lodgings and cultural purposes.
A group from the Marae were probably the best group of the day, singing songs and hukas which everyone enjoyed. It was so nice to feel the entertainment was real, and not tailored to what tourists wanted and could understand. However, we were very glad we had read lots at museums and had had some basics of the culture explained to us as it really helped our enjoyment and understanding of the day.
Apart from the canoes, the entertainment and the rides for the kids there was also a wood cutting competition. This event (one of many) was for the fastest to cut through a 28 cm trunk of wood, other events we saw were for mixed doubles sawing through a trunk. Everyone was extremely serious about it!
At around 3pm there was a second salute from the war canoes, then a lot of people started leaving. We stayed on to listen to an excellent group called JFS (jazz, fleminco and soul) before driving off to our next overnight lodging.
We are staying tonight at Woodlyn Park, in a Bristol Freighter aircraft! It is NZ5906, flown in 1952 at Farnborough, and now converted into two small units. There is also a ship, a train and a hobbit house here that you can stay in!
Our unit is in the cockpit of the aircraft, with two double beds, one just behind the pilots station which is remarkably intact. Should I bother pointing out that Mick chose this motel? He's almost stopped grinning now.
The second double bed is in the noise of the aircraft, with a small kitchen cum sitting and eating area just behind, and a minute bathroom behind that. There is another unit in the tail with a single double bed, but no one is staying there tonight.
Tomorrow we are going caving in Waitomo, so an early start again.
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