Two "Cultural Experiences"

Sunday was our first day in Christchurch, and because we were tired and unsure what to do there, we decided to have kind of a quiet day. We started out the day by walking down to the nearby mall and seeing Hot Fuzz. The movie was really funny and we both liked it a lot. I bought a new watch to replace the one I lost, and then we went back for a leisurely afternoon at the campsite. I spent most of the afternoon trying to upload pictures in vain.

That night, we went to Ko Tane and the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. This was advertised as a "Maori Cultural Experience" (the Maori are the native people here). I think we got a lot more than we expected!

We had a Maori woman guide us through. We only had a few people in our group, and only one man, so he was chosen to be the chief. We began walking through the reserve and the guide explained the significance of some of the trees and birds to the Maori. Eventually, a Maori warrior came out and challenged our chief. They do a lot of posturing and stick out their tongues to try to evoke fear in their opponents before dropping a token (in our case, some greenery). If the visiting chief picks up the greenery, it signifies that we came in peace. If he kicks it aside, we might be eaten for dinner that night after a long battle!

We entered the village peacefully, where our chief and the Maori chief sealed their friendship with a hangi (I'm not sure if it's "a hangi" or "the hangi" or just "hangi"). This is when they shake hands and press noses and foreheads together to signify a meeting of the minds and an acknowledgement that we all share the same breath.

After this portion, we moved on to a more contemporary Maori performance. Seven or eight people performed several songs. The women got up on stage to participate in one dance, and the men (man) got up on stage to do the haka at the end (one of the Maori dances - the New Zealand rugby team does it before matches to intimidate opponents).

We proceeded inside and had a very nice buffet dinner, and then took a tour of the wildlife preserve, which was way more than we expected it to be! We saw lots of native birds, including some really active Kiwis who got very close, a territorial swan, and some Keas - one of which perched on Rebecca for awhile!



We caught a bus back to our campsite and called it a night.