Explore Aotearoa: Unique Māori cultural experiences for Matariki

Visiting Waipoua Forest and the great Tāne Mahuta with a Māori guide adds a spiritual layer to an already special experience. Photo / Tourism NZ

On Friday, June 20, Aotearoa will enjoy a public holiday to mark Matariki, the cluster of stars that appear midwinter and signal the Māori New Year. Fortunately, there are more than a few unforgettable ways to connect with our rich culture and history during this significant time, writes Helen Van Berkel.

Travel broadens the mind: everyone knows that. But Kiwis are lucky, we can broaden our minds just by staying home. We may bemoan New Zealand’s shortage of crumbling medieval villages and fresco-strewn cathedrals; we could do with more statues of naked, heavily muscular men wrestling horses and maybe even a pyramid or two. Yet tourists flock to New Zealand despite its lack of all that for a taste of the richness offered by a culture that is truly Aotearoa’s own.

As Matariki approaches, here are some ways to experience the 1000-year-old culture on our doorstep.

Entering the Waipoua Forest to visit the great Tāne Mahuta is a must-do, but going in after sunset with a Māori guide adds a spiritual layer to an already special experience. Māori have always had an affinity with the ancient giants that rule over the forest. Guides for Footprints Waipoua’s four-hour twilight tour share stories, myths and waiata as you walk into the bush while the darkness settles. If you are lucky, as I was, you might even see a kiwi bustling about in search of food. Tours depart 6pm from October to March and 5pm in April-October.

Continue north on State Highway 12 for a jaw-dropping view as you crest the hill and descend to the sparkling waters of Hokianga Harbour. Here you will find Manea Footprints of Kupe, a multi-sensory experience that tells the story of Kupe’s journey to Aotearoa, which includes film, digital interaction and walks along the shores where Kupe walked. To borrow the attraction’s own words: “Kupe’s arrival to Te-Hokianga-nui-ā-Kupe, the Hokianga Harbour, around 950 years ago marked the beginning of our nation’s human story.”

Ngāwhā Springs – used for generations by Māori and visitors alike – are worth a visit as is the expertly curated Ruapekapeka Pā, where Māori and British soldiers faced off in a brutal and costly battle. Even a slightly curious mind will open your thoughts to the significance of this place to New Zealand’s history.

On the east coast, Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a must-see for everyone in Aotearoa. The story of Te Tiriti is told through cultural performances, and a museum details the Māori commitment to the armed forces. Walk alone or take a guided tour through the carved meeting house and the first home for the official representative of the British Government in New Zealand for in-depth information about this significant site.

Also on the grounds is the world’s largest ceremonial waka. Named Ngātokimatawhaorua, the 37.5m-long canoe holds 80 paddlers and is launched every February to commemorate Waitangi Day.

In Auckland, walkers can follow explanatory billboards from Pt Erin along the original city waterfront to see where villages once housed families who fished the waters of the Waitematā and grew and protected their crops.

South of the city, the Queens Redoubt in Pōkeno is the remains of the camp where British soldiers gathered before they invaded Waikato. Volunteers do a remarkable job of looking after the site where artefacts continue to be unearthed, including, quite recently, the remains of a stone road leading into the site.

Loosely follow the path of the soldiers as they crossed into Waikato, meeting resistance every step of the way, to Rangiriri Pā, where tours take visitors through the world’s first Māori replica built-to-scale earthwork trenches. Tours begin with a talk about the Kīngitanga movement and then move to the original pā site and trenches.

Built to scale, the trenches have proved popular with international visitors and locals, says guide and kaitiaki Leitia Peyton (Ngati Naho), who has learned that visitors of all stripes are keen to understand more about New Zealand’s history.

On one side of Rangiriri’s Te Wharepu Rd are trenches and a carved entrance that are open to the public, with information boards explaining the battle. Two rows of pou representing warriors and chiefs lead towards SH1 at the foot of the hill. But across Te Wharepu Rd is the rebuilt pā and trenches, and where Rangiriri Pā tours explain the history of the sacred site. The lake below still contains the bodies of 120 women and children killed as they tried to flee the invading British.

Peyton says visitors feel sad, conflicted, traumatised – but that, she says, is the purpose of the tour: to help people gain an understanding of what happened here, from all perspectives.

The next step on your trip should be to see Te Uenuku: the magnificent carving lost at the battle of Hingakākā, near Lake Ngāroto, in the late 1700s. It was recovered in 1906 but is in storage, when it should be on display at Te Awamutu Museum.

In Wellington, board a traditionally carved waka for a two-hour paddle around the harbour. Waka Tours offers a two-hour experience that begins with a traditional Māori mihi whakatau (welcome) and waiata (song). The waka Poutu or Te Taumata takes 10-18 paddlers who guide the craft in beautiful unison into the Wellington Harbour for a view of the capital from a different angle. Smaller waka are also available.

The waka are stored at Te Raukura-Te Wharewaka o Pōneke on the harbourfront, which was originally the site of Te Aro Pā village. A walk with Waka Tours will also give an insight into the people who lived here, their connection to Polynesian explorer Kupe and also introduce you to the two taniwha who make this harbour home.

Te Papa has a Matariki exhibition (free with museum entry), Mānawatia a Matariki, which celebrates the Māori New Year with activities and exhibitions.

Art galleries around Wellington also showcase Māori art. The Māori Arts Gallery is at Boatshed 1 in the waterfront’s Frank Kitts Park; Kura Wellington is at 19 Allen St in the Courtenay Quarter and has galleries at Pataka, on the corner of Parumoana and Norrie Sts, in Porirua.

And this is what travel is about: seeing the world through the perspective of others.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: let your first chapter begin here in NZ.