Current catalogue Flight Center - Valid from 01.01 to 31.12 - Page nb 14

Products in this catalogue

don earth marvels dna core most

5 ways to immerse yourself in Maori culture Often you can't get a true sense of a place until you get to know what life is like for the people who call it home. In countries that were colonised, this requires actively seeking out the voices and experiences of indigenous communities, whose histories often run deep through that country’s DNA. That's definitely the case in Aotearoa, New Zealand, where indigenous Maori culture is less a thread in the fabric of the country than it is a defining feature. | ) 4 LOOK TO UNDERSTAND ! THE MAORI HISTORY OF y GEOGRAPHICAL WONDERS New Zealand packs a ton of remarkable natural wonders into its compact islands, but while youre admiring the geothermal springs of Rotorua or the otherworldly landscapes of Tongariro National Park, don't stop at the geography. Te Puia in Rotorua is home to the southern hemisphere's largest geyser and pools of bubbling mud and fizzing hot springs, but the relationship of Maori people to these lands is sometimes overlooked. The geothermal wonderland is also a resource Maori have used for generations for medicinal purposes, cooking, bathing and heating’ According to the legends of Maori people who settled in this area hundreds of years ago, this is where the goddesses of fire, Te Pupu and Te Hoata, emerged from the earth's core, their breath creating the geothermal marvels you see today. ” STAND WHERE I = 4 sGREAT THINGS HAVE HAPPENED At the northern tip of New Zealand's North Island, spend some time at Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Perhaps the most historically significant site in the country, this is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by 43 Maori chiefs and British representatives in 1840 Join a guided tour of the grounds and take the opportunity to visit Te Kongahu Museum of Waitangi for an honest depiction of early and ongoing Maori-European relations. Farther up the coast, visit Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean collide and where Maori spirits are said to leap from a centuries-old gnarled pohutukawa tree into the currents as they return to Hawaiki, their ancestral homeland ss Holden / Eric Hanson / Fraser Clements