Maori warriors on Anzac Day

We enjoy creating experiences for clients. Not special soap in a qualmarked lodge. We're talking experiences.

Up north we have been working for years with Hone Mihaka of Taiamai - www.taiamaitours.co.nz. Hone shares a passion for the authentic and also delights in creating.

We had some clients earlier this month who were the owners of a top outbound US agency dealing in South Africa. They knew travel and had briefed my that they liked surprises. (rub hands with glee) Hone and I got together on the phone and put together something which blew them away.

We selected an area far from tourists. I briefed my clients on Maori protocol and led them down a shaded path into a large piece of native bush. Suddenly in the distance we heard a horn. We approached slowly. A warrior appeared. In the distance behind him, illuminated by a shaft of light we could see two ladies and a child. There was a hiss from the bush to our right. I told our clients to keep looking ahead. Don't be distracted. You can guess the rest - a wonderful welcome, fierce visages in the bush, a great display of warrior prowess, meaningful songs (waiata). And they had done this all for us at 9am on a Sunday, Anzac Day, a very special day for warriors. After a talk with the warriors we dropped into a couple of historic sites - one where Maori invented trench warfare and another where they bathed their wounds after the battle. Then lunch at the chief's home. A traditional lunch of course.

We didn't see any tourists, any visitor centres, any i-sites, any brochures, any marketing strategies. We saw Maori warriors on Anzac Day.

Thank you Hone.

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