Our Maori experience

We flew into Auckland the night of the 14th and the feeling was all msuunanimously sad to leave Australia but so stoked for New Zealand! We had spent a little over two weeks down under and really grew quite fond of the place and the people!

We drive forever to this campsite place for the night and I was expecting to freeze miserably but to our pleasant surprise we were in crammed little cabins that warmed us right up! I slept the best id slept all trip so the 545am wake up call kinda really sucked! But we all agreed on this time cause it was the only way we could make it to all three hours of church...over two hours away.

The exhaustion in the morning was totally worth our experience at the Rotorua ward! Church I'm different countries is my most favorite! The spirit is so strong an the members are always so inspiring. I loved every bit of sacrament Sunday school and relief society! I wrote down so many insightful thoughts and really came away with great new ideas to better myself an my life. Ah! It was just fantastic.

Next up, Maori village! We drove more hours up and up into the forest. we pull up to this place and it's dumping rain. Like fully on dumping buckets of rain! We get out of the car (unenthusaticlly) and are immediately summoned by a "welcome song" but the tribal Maori family. This song was an invite to enter into their sacred building/large room place but wasnt only an invite to us...but our ancestors. This sacred room required the absence of shoes and an open heart. The walls were lined with old photographs of their deceased ancestors and this white paint design that represented the welcoming of angels. Once we entered the room in an orderly fashion, the family chanted and sang some more in their Maori language. This sacred room was where we were sleeping that night! Mattress pads were lined up around the room and it ended up being a giant sleepover with our ancestors! They told us some interesting things...they believe a family member of our planted a tree in the forest thousands of years ago that was chopped and is not apart of the wooden structure we were in. Also, that this meeting had been planned thousands of years ago for eachother and our ancestors to meet. Their culture was quite fascinating! It was a really neat and spiritual experience that night spent with the Maori tribe! It was cool to be reminded of our ancestors and their potential role in our eelveryday lives.

They fed us a yummy dinner and brekky and all in all it was an unforgettable experience! Oh and I forgot to mention that in order to even walk on their tribes sacred grounds, you need permission. So the opportunity that we had to actually be welcomed into their home, let alone sleep in their most sacred of rooms, their "holy of holies" they even said, is über unique! So dang cool! Never would I ever have had any experience like this at another time!

Ps I forgot to mention how I only packed one outfit for cold weather so I've been in the same exact outfit for 4 days now...night and day! My pjs and day clothes. Judge me.