Tamaki village and an evening with the Mauori People

Tamaki village and an evening with the Mauori People

The Mauori people we originally from Polynesia and were the first to occupy New Zealand in 1200AD and they had practiced their traditional ways under Captain James Cook discovered New Zealand in the 1700’s. New Zealand did not have any large mammals on the island other than those brought from Polynesia and the islands were largely populated by birds and lizards. So the Mauori culture developed close to the sea and did not progress inland for centuries. After Captain Cook claimed the islands under the British, Europeans began to migrate there. War ensued and the Mauori’s were nearly wiped out.
The village we visited celebrates the Mauori culture and its restoration. The village was an actual reconstruction of a traditional village and the participants show the culture and ways of the past.
Anyway we had to take a bus to get to this place and the driver was clearly nuts. She was singing songs and going so fast around the roundabouts that we were literally on 3 wheels as she sang “Comin around the mountain when she comes” and proceeded to whip around the turn bucket 8-10 times in a row. Fun but nuts all the same.