Backpacking in New Zealand🇳🇿: My Night As Chief At Tū Te Ihi, Tamaki Maori Village

Long overdue then this one! Seventeen years ago this week I was backpacking in the North Island of New Zealand. Across a brace of trips to New Zealand, I have backpacked the North Island and the South Island but not yet Stewart Island. I ended up in Rotorua where I have backpacked through twice. I stayed at Crash Palace Backpackers in the days when I was only a hobby blogger, so I never reviewed it. While based there, I roomed with Andy and Ali from England who were going to the Maori Village night for the Tū Te Ihi night at Tamaki.

Organising a Tū Te Ihi night at Tamaki

It’s easy to backpack in New Zealand. Hostels have all these tours and make it so easy to sort. I’d almost argue that New Zealand is the easiest country in the world to backpack in. I booked my ticket through the Crash Palace Backpackers Hostel in Rotorua.

I was placed in the WEKA bus group to be picked up by a driver called Eden around 5 p.m. I was backpacking with Andy and Ali and the WEKA was actually a big bus with about 20 other backpackers on it. I got a yellow ticket.

What Is Tū Te Ihi? (Winter Matariki Celebration)

“Tū Te Ihi” evokes the energy and passion inspired by the Matariki star cluster and the promise they symbolize. Matariki brings to mind the ancestors of the Tamaki Maori tribe, prompting the familes (and us tourists) to remember their legacy and reflect on the past year.

Tū Te Ihi 2024 is held in an 1800s Aotearoa setting, in a small pā (village) called Te Pā Tū, Tamaki, located just south of Rotorua. The ihi—passion, energy, and sense of celebration—is palpable.

The evening came in 6 parts:

1.Bus journey there.
2.Arrival at Tamaki and Greeting with Fire Ceremony.
3.Video introduction to Tū Te Ihi.
4.Hangi Food / Kai Horotai Dinner.
5.Dancing and Music Event.
6.Presentation and Goodbyes.
7.Bus journey home.

Back in 2007, I didn’t even travel with ANY mobile phone at all and have only these photos from an old digital camera. On the bus there we each had to sing a song and tell a joke. I didn’t know they were using that to decide on a prize of a tribe chief (leader). I was surprised then, that I was chosen as the chief of my tribe! This meant I had to go up at the start and end to be greeted to the village.

Then we had the opening ceremony and welcome through a white wooden door. This include dancing, the Haka, music and quite a performance!

Up next we are taken to a hut style room which has a big screen and we watch a presentation which is in English.

Then it’s dinner time and we eat Hangi food which was prepared partly under the ground in the soil, and partly on the barbecue.

The dinner was excellent. The vegetables had been steam cooked underground – potato, carrot and turnip. There were three meats – I think it was chicken, pork and beef with gravy. And a side salad. Water was included but I bought a beer also.

Pudding was a chocolate style cake with custard. I’m really not sure how Maori that one actually is, but I devoured it!

After the dinner, I had a craft beer (MATA) and was called up as chief of my tribe to accept a gift. I was delighted to get a souvenir necklace which I still cherish to this day.

Then we enjoyed the rest of the music and beer before Andy, Ali, myself and our Weka Bus headed in the darkness back to Rotorua.

I did actually make a few videos of this evening including the dancing and the dinner but they have probably been lost down the years.

Here are the details

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