Te Puia Our Heritage Rotorua

Rising from the geothermal valley above mud pools and steam vents is Te Puia. Once a pallisaded fortress, Te Puia protected the people and its culture from warring tribes.

Today Te Puia stands majestic as a symbol of protection for our arts, crafts and culture, upholding the values of Maori – past, present and future.

Activity Options

Te Po Indigenous Evening Experience, 6:15pm – 9:15 pm

• Begin your evening at Te Puia in Te Heketanga-a-Rangi (The Heavenly Origins). Hear the stories of our past and learn how these traditions live on today. Assemble at the waharoa (gateway) of our fully carved traditional marae. You are about to experience an authentic Maori welcome!

• Watch a challenge by our warriors, a karanga (call) from our women welcoming you onto the marae, and a whaikorero (welcome speech). Relax and enjoy the beautiful waiata (songs), the world renowned haka (challenge), and the elegant poi dance. Learn Maori customs including Maori musical instruments, haka and poi.

• The dining experience is a culinary opportunity like no other. A range of delicacies have been designed to complement the time honoured hangi (earth oven cooked meal) and other well known New Zealand delights. Following dessert, you will be transported down into the valley to conclude your evening beside the awe inspiring Pohutu geyser.

Te Po Combo – exclusive guided tour of Te Puia plus Te Po, 4:30pm – 9:15pm

• Before Te Po enjoy an exclusive guided tour of the valley with one of Te Puia’s world renowned guides. As part of the tour you will visit New Zealand’s national carving and weaving schools and witness these disciplines in practice, under the guidance of full-time master carvers and weavers.

• You will visit our award winning interactive galleries, see a kiwi bird up close, and most importantly, hear our stories as told by the descendants of the valley. To conclude the tour you will visit the geyser and mud pools, get ready for your next adventure Te Po!

Te Puia Daytime Experience Combo, 10:15am, 12.15pm, 3.15pm

• Stories of old soar to life through song. Poi and stick games reveal how favorite past times were in fact training for agility and co-ordination. For everything there was a purpose.

• The spirit of Te Puia’s daily Maori Cultural Performances, Kapa Haka, is to learn to enjoy and also to be uplifted. Maori performers will sense the weary and focus their energy intently.

• Where there is movement there is life. Where there is song, there is healing. From the first step on to the Marae, the focal meeting place in the Maori village at Te Puia, the journey begins.

Exclusive Guided Tours

• Hear the legends and stories that have shaped our rich and colourful history. See for yourself how the vegetation has adapted to survive in this mysterious landscape.

• Marvel at how Maori lived in this environment – cooking and bathing in natural boiling water, growing food, making medicines, and carving and weaving from the abundant natural resources.

• Visit a living pa (village) & be amazed at the carved designs in the fully carved meeting house.

Other Experiences at Te Puia

Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley

• Imagine standing at the place where the earth’s crust is thinnest. See boiling mud leaping and playing, hear steam hissing as it escapes the ground around you, feel warm water raining down as Pohutu geyser explodes up to 30 metres high right in front of you.

Our Kiwi

• Kiwi feathers played an important part in Maori culture. He can’t fly, and he loves the dark, but let your eyes adjust and you’ll see him poking around for insects, his favorite food.

The New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute

• For centuries Maori learned to weave baskets, clothing, and mats. Our history was carved into meeting houses, canoes, weapons and jewellery. Students of the Institute will share with you the stories of their carvings their weaving.

Other Information

Opening hours summer: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm daily, with the last guided tour leaving at 5.00 pm

Opening hours winter: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm daily, with the last guided tour leaving at 4.00 pm

Location

Hemo Road, Rotorua, New Zealand.