Maori Tekoteko carving. Figures represent tribal ancestors who instill general protection and guardianship over the tribe. Souvenir of Rotorura. IMG_8791
Valenes 1964 Los Angeles Geographical Society tour to the South Pacific began with a Pan American flight from Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji, with a stop in Honolulu. Nadi was the gateway to New Zealand, as Auckland did not yet have an airport that could handle Boeing 707 aircraft. Valene and her mother, Lucy, came in from San Francisco via Qantas and joined up with the rest of us in Nadi. From there, we took a connecting Pan American to Aucklands Whenuapai airport.
North Island sightseeing included Auckland itself and its coastal landscape, the Auckland War Memorial Museum (the national museum of New Zealand), the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, the Rotorua and Wairākei thermal areas and the Whakarewarewa Maori village.
At Waitomo Caves, visitors take a boat through the grotto. Periodically, the guide turns off the lights and the glowworm illumination appears overhead.
Whakarewarewa Maori village at Rotorua is a cultural attraction where Maori show and interpret their customs, dress and traditional way of life. I remember especially seeing a wharenui ceremonial building. The single gable, almost ceremonial buildings have elaborately carved maihi boards running along the gable. A figure is at the top. We attended Maori
dance and song performance in the evening. At the conclusion, the performers and audience all joined in singing God Save the Queen. Near Rotorua was a reconstructed Maori stockade, called a Pa. The Maori built defensive wooden stockades during wars before European arrival and built them during conflicts with British colonists in the 19th century.
South from Rotorura is Taupō. Near Taupō is the center of the North Islands geothermal area and the Taupō Volcanic Zone. Maori used the hot springs at Rotorua and elsewhere for bathing and cooking. The Wairakei Power Station at Taupō had begun operation only the year before, in 1963. It was the worlds second geothermal power staton. New Zealanders were proud of the and we were able to see it up close. Near it was the scenic Waikato River and Huka Falls.
