Nov 26 2008
Kiwi Experience Vol VI
The final stop on this whirlwind tour of small town New Zealand was the Maori enclave of Rotorua.
Here you get totally immersed in Maori culture, from sacred wood carving, weaving, extracting fiber from plants to learning about the edible plants and herbs in the town’s lush bush.
And this must also be the only town where locals perform the hongi to people they meet.
I dropped by a Maori village in the evening to partake in the Te Puai night cultural extravaganza and traditional hangi dinner.
And guess who was chosen tribal chief?
That’s also where I learn the traditional Maori Haka but I think I failed to intimidate anyone 
We retreated to a very remote hunting lodge in the evening.
Treetops is inconveniently nestled among the Rotorua bush, but the drive up was well worth it.
The lodge was as luxurious as any 5 star accommodation in any city. Except this one is self sustaining, everything consumed here is grown in the farm or picked from the bush.
The lodge’s chef took me for a bush walk to pick herbs for dinner, and again I joined him in the kitchen to prepare our dinner.
But I couldn’t wait to retreat to our lodge at the end of the night, just because the rainy weather was perfect to light a fire and keep warm indoors.
Of course I had to take pictures of the stylish and thoughtful rooms too, apart from the usual toiletries found in many hotels, Treetops stocks its guestrooms with sunscreen, lip balm, eye cream and a bedside “sleep sniff” to help put guests to sleep.
It was truly very difficult to wake up the next morning for an early flight out of Rotorua to catch our Singapore flight from Auckland.
8 Responses to “Kiwi Experience Vol VI”
Tim,
You are one lucky man to explore part of the world in a few days.After reading your entries, I am sure that you have gained a lot of knowledge from the people living there. Seeing the pics and reading about your experiences also helps me to learn more about different cultures.
Hey,pls continue to post meaningful entries like these when you go on trips.It an eye-opener for all of us.Till then it good to see you on channelnewsasia.
guess what?you maybe don’tknow there is a college girl who always pays attention to your blog,hehe,i’mseason,i like your programmes
and blog,although i haven’t type sth into yr blog until now,i always download them to read,i watched yr pro ,however, what to my regret is i can’t receive channelnewsasia any more .after reading what
u wrote about kiwi,i feel i will have a thing for that place.thank u!
i hope i could meet u one day,and say ” hi,timothy”,that would
be wonderful.ah,could u tell me how u got yr name? thank u. have
a nice sleep! season
See you on C news Asia.
Hi Timothy, i think your blog entry cum travelogue is really interesting..been to other countries lately as well? do share with us ..just realised that you are not a local after reading one of the entries here..so where do you originally hail from? it would be great if you could tell us more about yourself..
Enjoyed reading your blog regularly. New Zealand has always been one of those places I like to visit. So it was with great interest that I ’savoured’ your great Kiwi experience. Also like the way you presented your travelogue. Look forward to your future blogs on travelling.
Surely you have captured the beautiful and captivating scenery of NZ. At this time of financial turmoil, these pics surely calm one’s nerves, at least for me. Thanks for sharing such simple pleasure and taking the trouble to put them together.
Hi Timothy Go
Happy Chinese New Year
More of your photos please.
Perfect work!Keep posting
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