aotearoa photos updated 2/4/05 (image heavy thread)

Here are some photos (mostly taken by my wife) from our trip to New Zealand.

I got a gazillion more pics to post, but I figured I'd get started posting now while I have a little spare time. This set's from Rotorua. Enjoy!

Downtown Rotorua

New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute

Polynesian Spa

Around Rotorua

More to come,
Tiki Chris

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2005-02-03 16:25 ]

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2005-02-04 06:25 ]

THAT'S were I wanna go to school!

Nice. Sign me up.

I'm with Sven. Thats where I want to learn. Those pictures make me feel like Such a Beginner. I need More pix of that work. I cannot describe how that Maori art affects me. Unbelievable!!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to post these.
HappyHappyhappyHappy

So Tiki Chris,
Did you buy anything.

bigbrotiki: unless there's some maori in your gene pool, you're out of luck.

benzart: yeah, my head almost exploded the first few days we were down there. keep a lookout b/c i plan to post more pics this week.

teakey: i didn't purchase any carvings. they were simply too expensive (the good stuff was reasonably priced, but you pay for quality. the touristy stuff was just overpriced & not worth it). i got some great shirts as well as a nice jade hei tiki. my wife got a bone manaia necklace. we got some other cool stuff (books, cds, etc) & a lot of non-maori kiwi stuff.

however, we're strongly considering commissioning Eruera Ropiha to do a carving for us, if & when we get some home improvement stuff out of the way. See examples of Eruera's work here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=13002&forum=7&2

Ticichris when you commission him, ask him if I can sweep up his chips and keep his chisels sharpened. I'll do any of the grunt work to watch him carve...

Cool pix Tiki Chris. Can't wait to see the rest.

I'm planning on spending ten days on North Island in March.

Any travel tips? Major highlights?

I love your Pic's!!! Please post more!!! Those Tiki's are just amazing!!! You ARE SO Lucky to go to New Zeland.
Later,
Spermy

Hey, I posted more pics (scroll up) from Rotorua. I'll try to post more later today.

Enjoy,
Tiki Chris

Here are some photos from Tamaki Village near Rotorua:

More as I find time,
Chris

Wow, great photos Tikichris! Great to see the traditional carvings as well as the combinations of old & new. And how much do I want a hot tub like one of those?!!

Was Rotorua the epicentre of Maori carvings? I'd always assumed it was, and will be the place I head to first when we make the journey, but did you find anywhere more Tiki in NZ?

Trader Woody

On 2005-02-02 12:00, Trader Woody wrote:

Was Rotorua the epicentre of Maori carvings? I'd always assumed it was, and will be the place I head to first when we make the journey, but did you find anywhere more Tiki in NZ?

Trader Woody

Aloha Trader Woody!

Rotorua was probably the most accessible place to see non-museum carvings. It's a huge domestic & international tourist destination (w/ good reason!) & actually has a fairly substantial Maori community.

Unfortunately, we did not make it to the Eastern Cape (a great reason to go back!). Even w/ three weeks, there just wasn't enought time to do everything! in much of that rural & remote section of the North Island, carvings & marae are pretty common (this is the area where they filmed Whalerider).

Carvings and other Polynesian (not just Maori) items were somewhat plentiful in Auckland. The Auckland War Memorial Museum is fantastic & Te Papa in Wellington is a dream!

Aside from the Christchurch area, the South Island is pretty non-Maori. But still, if you fly all the way over there & don't spend a significant amount of time exploring the South Island, you'd really miss out on the best NZ has to offer.

I hope to go back in a few years & check out the Eastern Cape & the far North.

More pics later,
Chris

[ Edited by: tiki chris on 2005-02-03 09:14 ]

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2005-02-03 09:15 ]

from the Auckland War Memorial Museum, these photos are details of a huge waka (canoe). I don't have any other decent photos from this museum, but it's well worth a visit (TONS of artifacts from New Zealand and throughout Oceania).

THis batch of photos were taken around Christchurch.

Around Cathedral Square

Arts Centre

Botanical Gardens

National Marae

Still more to come ...

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2005-02-03 06:16 ]

Thank you again and again and again. This is the next best thing to going there myself.

I'm with Benzart on this!!! I am really enjoying your Post's!!!
Thank You - Thank You - Thank You
Later,
Spermy

Aw shucks fellas! I appreciate you letting me know how much you like the pics. What's the point of taking them if you can't share them w/ likeminded friends?

Anyway, I added one more photo to the end of my first post about Rotorua.

Here are some from Te Papa in Wellington:

Still got some more to post,
TC

Hawkes Bay on the North Island is much touted for its art deco architecture. The quaint seaside town of Napier gets a lot of attention. Frankly, I don't think Napier lives up to the hype. It's a nice place, but more a Victorian town w/ some art deco highlights.

However, just down the road is Hastings which is a jazz age dream!

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2005-02-04 08:08 ]

Middle Earth

We stayed in a Camper Van for most of our trip. It was a great way to see the country.

More Photos that don't really fit into any category:

That's about it, folks. I may post some postcards etc from the trip, but that's it for the photo essay.

Hope you enjoyed the show,
Tiki Chris