MAORI HISTORY

We planned to go and get a little Maori culture while in Queenstown. This meant riding the gondola up to the top of the mountain. Not so bad - even for a girl who doesn't like heights much. There were even sheep underneath us at one point - seriously, they are everywhere.

Before getting on the gondola we stopped by the Kiwi wildlife center to see what kiwi birds really look like. We couldn't take any pictures. They have to trick the kiwi birds into thinking it is night time (they are nocturnal) by having really dim lights during the day and then full on lights at night. Sadly to say, but we are pretty sure that we hit a baby kiwi the night before on our late night drive to Queenstown - sorry baby kiwi! My Kiwi friend, Kate says that it might have been a hedgehog. That makes sense - it was small and round and squished like a water balloon....sorry TMI???

Since I couldn't take any pictures I found one on-line. They are cute little birds and it was fun to see them during their feeding.

After seeing the kiwi and other wildlife we headed up to the gondola to see the show. We got up to the top before the show and had time to check out the view. I only lasted about two minutes before I was back inside - it was amazing though!

The show was fantastic. Madi and I got to be part of the show and do the poi balls. It was the only part of the show that we could take pictures of.

They also did the haka dance. This is a dance traditionally done when the Maori warriors wanted to scare of warriors of another tribe. There is a lot of tongue sticking out and bulging eyes. The all-blacks (New Zealand's rugby team) does the haka before every game, so does BYU football. I thought Rylee might get a little scared, but she was so intensely watching the whole thing. In fact at the end we got to go out to get a photo op and she made everyone around us burst out laughing. As soon as she saw the dancers she stuck her tongue out at them. The guy stuck his tongue back out at her and she continued unfazed. Every picture we have Rylee has her tongue sticking out. This is proof that she is a true COUGAR!!!! I have scrapped this one already so here is the page:

Later in Christchurch we briefly went through a Maori history museum. I am always interested in the people who were first on the land before the "white man" came. I often wonder where they came from and love to hear their stories. We need to be proud of the history of the nations around the world. These people were here before we came to take over their land. They were not always treated kindly and it is just now that we are beginning to appreciate their culture and heritage.