Culture · 16D | 15N
Māori Aotearoa
Sixteen days on Māori ground: the Waitangi treaty house, a marae stay in the Rotorua lakes, carving and weaving schools, Te Papa in Wellington, and whales off Kaikōura.
- Best time
- November to March
- Route
- Auckland · Waitangi · Rotorua · Wellington · Kaikōura
Day by day
16 days, planned in full
Sixteen days on Māori ground: the Waitangi treaty house, a marae stay in the Rotorua lakes, carving and weaving schools, Te Papa in Wellington, and whales off Kaikōura.
Day 1
Arrive in Auckland
In and to a hotel near the domain, with the first afternoon left clear and dinner nearby.
- Night
- Auckland
- Meals
- Dinner
Day 2
Taonga at the museum
The Auckland Museum's Māori court — the Te Toki a Tapiri war canoe and the Hotunui meeting house — with a Māori guide.
- Night
- Auckland
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 3
North to Waitangi
Up to the Bay of Islands, and the treaty grounds where the 1840 document was signed, with the carved waka taua in its shelter.
- Night
- Waitangi
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 4
The treaty, both readings
The museum's account of the English and te reo texts, which do not say the same thing, and a guided walk with a Ngāpuhi historian.
- Night
- Waitangi
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch
Day 5
Kauri and the far coast
The Waipoua forest's Tāne Mahuta, thought to be around 2,000 years old, with a local guide and a karakia before entering.
- Night
- Auckland
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 6
South to the Waikato
The Waitomo caves with a Māori-owned operator whose family found them, and on to Rotorua in the evening.
- Night
- Rotorua
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 7
Whakarewarewa
The living village on the geothermal field, the steam boxes, the Pōhutu geyser, and the carving and weaving schools at Te Puia.
- Night
- Rotorua
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch
Day 8
A night on a marae
Out to a lakes marae for a pōwhiri, a hāngī lifted from the ground, and a night in the wharenui with the carvings around you.
- Night
- Marae
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 9
At the bench
A morning of whakairo — bone or wood carving — with a tutor, and an afternoon of raranga, weaving harakeke flax into kete.
- Night
- Rotorua
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch
Day 10
Taupō and the carvings
The rock carvings on the lake's western cliffs by boat, reachable no other way, and the Huka falls on the way south.
- Night
- Taupō
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 11
South to Wellington
The desert road under the volcanoes and down the Kāpiti coast to the capital, on the harbour.
- Night
- Wellington
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 12
Te Papa
A full day with a Māori curator: the Rongomaraeroa marae inside the museum, the taonga collection and the treaty gallery.
- Night
- Wellington
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 13
Across the strait
The Cook Strait ferry through the Marlborough Sounds, then south down the coast to Kaikōura, with seals on the rocks.
- Night
- Kaikōura
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 14
Whales, with Ngāti Kurī
Out over the Kaikōura canyon with the iwi-owned operator for sperm whales, and a pāua and crayfish lunch ashore.
- Night
- Kaikōura
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch
Day 15
The peninsula, and Christchurch
The clifftop walkway over the fur seal colony, then south to Christchurch and the Ngāi Tahu gallery at the art centre.
- Night
- Christchurch
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 16
Fly home
A transfer to Christchurch airport and the connection through Singapore or Sydney.
- Meals
- Breakfast
What's included
- 15 nights in heritage hotels, a marae wharenui and a Kaikōura lodge
- Return economy airfare from Delhi or Mumbai
- Private vehicle and a Māori cultural guide for eleven of the days
- Waitangi treaty grounds, Te Puia and Te Papa curator-led visits
- Marae stay with a pōwhiri and a hāngī
- Whakairo carving and raranga weaving sessions with materials
- Cook Strait ferry, the Taupō carvings boat and the Kaikōura whale trip
Not included
- New Zealand visitor visa
- Meals not named in the itinerary
- Travel insurance
- Carvings and weaving bought at the schools
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