As part of our tour, we were taken to a local Maori marae to see performaces of the traditional Haka, Poi dancing and songs by local Maori people. We were then taught the Haka and Poi dancing - but tradition meant that only the boys in our group were allowed to learn the Haka. The girls had to learn to dance and sing with Poi which are small, soft pom poms on string. Boo! We wanted to learn the Haka! But then we heard that, originally, poi were rocks on leather or string. Young warriors used these to help them train their arms and wrists so that they could use their weapons to take a human skull straight off with one swipe! Great fun to learn and as we could watch the boys do the Haka, we could pick it up anyway. The guys on our tour were able to practice their new found skills in the pub that weekend watching the Australia v NZ rugby game. NZ won.....and some of us ended up getting back to the hostel just in time for breakfast and to catch our bus leaving at 6.45am!
Now the Haka is a much better thing to do rather than belly dancing on a wet Saturday afternoon in the supermarket. Should stir things up amongst the frozen pea section don't you think?
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/PocketGem/NewZealandMaoriHakaPoi#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/PocketGem/AudraSTravelVideos#5379237470956157922
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