Maori Encounter with a difference!

This was definitely more of an encounter than a welcome.  It was also the first time one of our clients has run from a Maori!  We were able to put together an authentic encounter as the buyer of our services was our clients' superyacht captain, a New Zealander.  He thought they would enjoy the surprise of being jumped in the bush by half a dozen Maori.  

So our unsuspecting clients thought we were taking them for a nice walk in native bush, pointing out various trees and explaining their characteristics.  The sound of the conch shell made them jump, and I said we should go forward and investigate.  One of them was unsure and wanted to go back.  A small 9-year old boy was curious and moved 20 or so metres ahead.  

I told him not to go too far ahead as I knew what was coming.  Too late!  Three Maori warriors in full traditional dress came sprinting down the path, issuing challenges, and the poor boy went sprinting past me, feet six inches above the ground, eyes as large as dinner plates.  If his mother hadn't caught him, I think he would have gone on across the road and onto the West Coast!

There was then some tension as I stood close to the principal, whispering into his ear so he kept to protocol.  This tension dissolved through the meeting process, which as I've mentioned before is a "getting to know" process.  Then turned into a fascination, wanting to understand what they had just experienced.

These were lucky clients - they had just had an experience close to that of the original settlers.  Being welcomed traditionally, forcefully, with warriors right in their faces, without really expecting it or understanding what was going on.  This was a lovely historical re-enactment of some of the first Maori encounters, and something our clients told us would rank very highly in their list of memorable experiences.  Everything was explained over the next few hours at Hone's house, sitting in hot pools at Nga Wha Springs, and while eating a hangi lunch.  A modern hangi lunch, cooked in a steamer and accompanied by mussels steamed in coconut milk served with authentic Maori chillies! 

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