Te Ramaroa
Maori Culture
© 2008 - 2023 Waiotemarama Falls Lodge Limited
The Hokianga is birthplace to the tangata whenua, or Maori in New Zealand.

3 km from Waiotemarama Falls Lodge is the area known as Pakanae, on the shores of the Hokianga Harbour.  Pakanae is one of the earliest settlements of Maori in New Zealand and dates back roughly to the year 800.

Dominating the landscape at Pakanae is the conical summit of Whiria.  Whiria was a powerful pa, or fortified village.  Under the chieftainship of Moetara, the land was cultivated and further settlements established.

You can visit the local Marae and experience the depth of Maori culture at many levels in the Hokianga.  Your hosts can advise on protocols and arrange visits.

There are frequent wananga (seminars) on Maori language, culture and crafts, such as flax weaving. 
There are also festivals and performances of kapahaka and other traditional Maori arts.
Maori challenge
The hongi
Kapahaka performance
Maori meeting house
Other Cultural Experiences

Motuti Marae - North Hokianga

Visitors are welcomed onto the marae in traditional Maori fashion, provided with cups of tea and explanations of marae carvings and local history.  There are interactive modules in flax weaving, poi making, mau rakau, bone carving and wood carving.

To complete the experience, guests enjoy a kapa haka performance before having a light lunch and formal farewell.

Costs from $65 (children half price).  See their website:  www.motuti.co.nz
or telephone  09 4052 660.


Culture North - Paihia, Bay of Islands

Our cousins in the Bay of Islands are only a 75 minute drive away from the Lodge.
Culture North produces a popular Culture North Night Show at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
The cost is $60 adults, $30 children.
Their website is www.culturenorth.co.nz
Waka ama club
Photo: View from the Lodge

Our historical maunga (mountains), Te Ramaroa and Hine o te Marama. Te Ramaroa (The Long Light) is so named by the cloud reflected sunlight seen in the afternoons. These reflections can be seen out at sea and identify the entrance to the Hokianga Harbour.

Many generations ago the Ngaphui Queen adapted this to give a name for their new land: 
Aotearoa.
NZ Maori History
Begins in the Hokianga
Maori challenge
Kapahaka Performance
Maori meeting house
waka ama Hokianga
Maori greeting, the hongi
Native tui in a flowering New Zealand flax bush
Waiotemarama Falls Lodge
Extraordinary Private Accommodation Experience
Kauri Coast, Opononi, Northland, New Zealand
and Kiwi Sanctuary!
Your hosts standing outside The Lodge
Waiotemarama Falls Lodge is the Hokianga's finest accommodation experience.  See the real New Zealand bush!

Activities include sandboarding, hiking, fishing, hunting, birdwatching, stargazing, horsetrekking, Maori culture experiences, art trails, the Waipoua Forest and so much more!

Book now for this unique accommodation experience.
Kia ora

Nau mai

Haere mai

Welcome



"The Heart
of the
Kauri Coast"
(c)
Double click to edit
No visit to the Hokianga is complete without the Manea - Footprints of Kupe experience.

"Footprints of Kupe offers you a unique cultural encounter, journeying into Te Ao Maori, the Maori world.

Manea – Footprints of Kupe is a 75-minute multisensory journey of guided storytelling – through art, taonga (cultural treasures), film, performance, digital interaction, and the splendour of Hokianga’s natural surroundings.

The descendants of Kupe welcome you, as do the spirits of our ancestors. Enter Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe, our sacred cradle of tribal histories. Walk with us in the footprints of our ancestor – Kupe the intrepid, Kupe the voyager, Kupe the discoverer.
www.maneafootprints.co.nz