Cultural

The award winning Kauri Museum is famous for its hospitality and the legacy left behind by the ancient kauri trees which once covered northern New Zealand. The New Zealand Kauri  (Agathis australis) has cultural significance, to Māori and more recent settlers alike. Their prized timber and gum, formed the industries that shaped modern New Zealand. In addition to preserving our past, the Museum has a role to play in conserving their future, collaborating to “Save our Forests” by raising public awareness to control the spread of the Kauri Dieback disease and promote forest ecology.

Chris Jolly Outdoors is introducing the first experience of its kind this summer on Lake Taupō! Taurikura Māori Cultural Experience aboard Cruise Cat is the creation of Atera and Henare Pitiroi, working together with the students of the local Te Kura Kaupapa. They have created an educational interactive cultural experience for guests to learn to work the poi, play traditional Māori games, sample Rewana bread and even get their own washable moko. As the boat cruises on Lake Taupō, guests will hear the songs and learn the history and stories of the Tūwharetoa people.

New Zealand’s most awarded cultural attraction. Experience the warmth of their manaakitanga during an evening of ceremonial rituals, powerful cultural performance, storytelling & hangi feasting. An intricately carved gateway leads you to the fringe of a lush 200 year old native Tawa forest. Warriors emerge from the forest by canoe to perform an ancient ceremony of welcome. As you wander beneath the stunning forest canopy, the village is alive with sights, sounds and activity of days gone by and witness the lifting of the hangi. Enter the ancestral meeting house and relax as they entertain you with a powerful cultural performance. Dine on the traditional hangi buffet feast!

We have brought together a network of kiwi high performance rugby coaches, trainers, schools, clubs, physiotherapists and facilities to create rugby development tour packages for visiting international teams. Our core motivation for this business was to help players, coaches and rugby teams from all around the world grow and develop a deeper understanding and passion for the game of rugby. And of course extend their own rugby network all the way to New Zealand! We deliver 4 main packages that range from low-cost travel to a high-performance service while allowing the opportunity for groups to remove or add elements at any time.

Create meaningful connections with the locals through authentic cultural experiences.
Kia ora and welcome to Northland, where you will meet the beautiful indigenous people of the land and experience our breath-taking coastlines and landscape.
Step right off the tourist trail and discover the gateway to Northland, Whangārei, New Zealand’s northern-most city with a passionate, knowledgeable and fun-loving Māori couple.  
"Tu Tika" means "Stand True". It reflects the integrity and truth that your hosts, Mervyn and Rangimarie Harding, live and breathe every day and want to share with you. They can’t wait to welcome you and give you a truly personal, meaningful, one-of-a-kind experience.
This is the type of travel experience that captivates you right from the start. An encounter you’ll never forget. With Tu Tika Tours and Transfers, you will create friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

Discover Hawke’s Bay aboard ‘Te Matau a Māui’’, a traditional Polynesian sailing waka (canoe), that has travelled across the world.  Enjoy the hospitality and warmth of a friendly crew as they share their passion for sailing with you. Hear stories of Polynesian migration and local Māori history and legend. Learn how their ancestors navigated by the stars and how they continue this tradition today. Sailing occurs from October through March (weather dependent). Delicious Māori cuisine also included.  Two hour sailing departing West Quay, Ahuriri, Napier.

Waka tours from Kaiteriteri, the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. A truly unique cultural experience that's suitable for all ages. We begin and end all our trips with a blessing (karakia) for protection. You will learn the etiquette (tikanga) associated with waka before becoming familiar with the boat and embarking on our journey (haerenga ). Group Journeys, Haerenga ā-rōpū.  Let us create a unique experience for your school, business, iwi, tour or team-building group. Paddle as a group along the coast, try your hand at racing, or ask us to design a customised adventure. Come join us for a truly unique cultural experience that's suitable for all ages.

Experience the Hongi and specially designed Wanaka Haka at the Wanaka Tree and feel the passion of the Māori culture. A unique opportunity to see and feel the Tangata Whenua (people of the land) in Wanaka. Take a personalised 1/2 day cycling tour on the beautiful "Millennium track of Lake Wanaka", to ride where the magestic mountains meet the lake. We also offer a half day tour to the beautiful Cromwell and Bannockburn wineries from Wanaka with commentary of the original Māori footprint here in Central Otago. Experience 3-4 wineries and why many of them are award winning wines, and take in Old Cromwell Town.

We offer our guests the opportunity to personally discover Māori culture, traditions and unique geothermal landscapes here on our tribal homeland of Lake Tarawera, Rotorua. Experience and enjoy storytelling, lake excursions, traditional food tasting, walking trails, geothermal bathing, glamping and our stunning landscapes.  Tarawera is the birth place of tourism in New Zealand and we follow in the footsteps of our ancestors, the original guides. It is the standing place of the Tuhourangi and Ngati Rangitihi tribes and an area seeped in history. The area was home to the “Eighth wonder of the world”, the famous Pink and White Terraces, lost in the devastating eruption of Mount Tarawera on the 10th of June, 1886. Totally Tarawera operates exclusively on Lake Tarawera. Just 14km from central Rotorua.

Ngati Ruanui Stratford Mountain House is set in fabulous bush surrounds inside the Egmont National Park, 15km from the Stratford township in Central Taranaki. The business is a licensed hotel and offers visitors “The Mountain House Experience”. Refurbished to a high standard the hotel has an award winning restaurant and 11 accommodation suites all at  very reasonable rates. Using the Mountain House as a base there are a variety of walking tracks to explore, a winter skifield, and guided summit tours are also available. Popular tourist attractions in the area include our very own goblin forest, Tawhiti Museum, Possum Factory, park like golf courses, trout fishing and native bird reserves.