The tour of Waimangu valley is something I would recommend to anyone. It was extremely beautiful to see such a young geothermal area and be surrounded by the resilience of the earth. Ecotourism is huge in New Zealand and this tour (and the Treewalk) was a perfect example of that. The guides did a great job at explaining the history of the site while tying in the significance of the area to māori people. I’m extremely interested in how New Zealanders are going to do it the future to harness the energy from these natural geothermal areas to power their cities.
Our visit to the Tamaki Māori village was incredible. I don’t think I have processed exactly how I felt during it because of how many mixed emotions I had during the whole experience. On one hand I was overwhelmed by how beautiful it was to watch a family be so in tune with one another and have a great time working together. It was evident through their shared glances and laughs that the enjoyed what they were sharing with us. However, it was hard not to put aside the feeling of guilt that I had watching this family exploit their culture partially in fear of losing it but also to make a living. I do believe them when they said that they love educating others about who they are and where they come from but I’m sure they have extremely mixed feeling and thoughts as well. I’d love to learn more about what they think of their work. In all, I’d like to thank the family working this experience for sharing their culture and sharing themselves so intimately with strangers like myself.
