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• New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute
• Maori Culture Performances
• Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley
• Guided Tours
• Kiwi House
• Korero Tuku Iho

Guide Profiles

Ramona Thompson

Guide Ramona shares a very personal part of her life.

Mikaere Norris

The quiet boy who grew up to walk the talk.

At Te Puia, guiding is as natural as humour. It is in our bones. Many guides are the sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren of the guides of old. They tell stories that have been told for generations and share their own.

Stories like the Aunty who could catch freshwater fish just by singing from the riverbank. Or babies dropped into the natural, warm pools and taught to survive, who then became competitive swimmers.

“It’s more than a story. It’s our reality, our life,” says Operations Manager, Ngarepo Eparaima.

“Visitors don’t meet an employee. They meet the people who belong. Wherever we walk it’s ours and it’s ours to share.”

The special connection guides have with the land and its’ history ensures tours at Te Puia are unlike any other in New Zealand.

“We live to laugh and laugh to live. We live for today and let tomorrow take care of itself.”
- Guide Rangi 1896-1970.

While visitors may discover at their leisure, the guided tours for groups and individuals are a popular choice and it starts upon arrival.

“A guide will always be at the front entrance to greet group tours. The first thing visitors must see is a human face, not a gate,” says Ngarepo.

“We are there waiting. That way, the door is open.”

Tour Route

Introduction

Guided Tours leave on the hour every hour from the main courtyard. There is a short and often amusing introduction to the valley as visitors learn to pronounce Whakarewarewa.

Gallery

Before entering the carving school, visitors stroll through the gallery of photographs and history of Te Puia.

“This is where I always stop and say, see that guide? That’s my Nanny! I’m so proud. I can’t help myself,” says Ngarepo.

Te Wananga Whakairo, Carving School

A moment that not only allows visitors to see and talk to carving students but also realise their own worth to Te Puia. Tourism revenue funds our schools enabling descendants to learn the traditional art.

“Never again can we return to the time when our old people turned around and said ‘We’ve got no carvers,’” says Ngarepo.

“It is the reason we are here and the reason visitors are so appreciated.”

Rotowhio Marae

Site of a fortified village. The Marae, meeting place, was the centre of everyday tribal life, sheltering eating, sleeping, work places and most importantly the sacred meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua. It is here where daily cultural concerts, Kapa Haka, occur under the gaze of carved ancestors.

Te Rito, Weaving School.

Te Rito, the baby flax, is sister to the carving school and is also dedicated to preserving the ancient craft. Weaving of baskets, clothing was a practical part of Maori survival and like carving, each strand had a purpose and story.

Kiwi House

Te Puia is dedicated to the survival of New Zealand’s national endangered bird, the Kiwi. In a natural and protected habitat, kiwi pair, Kenny and Colorado, are far from birds of a feather. Where Colorado is shy, Kenny is a bossy diva. While they educate and entertain others have flourished under Te Puia’s successful kiwi breeding programme, becoming the first kiwi birds born in captivity without human intervention or artificial incubation.

Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley

A raw and powerful journey into a thermal wonderland some 40,000 years old. Mud pools, hissing steam and geysers pay tribute to the presence of Mother Nature. The most famous geyser, Pohutu, meaning big splash, can erupt up to 30 metres high in front of you. There’s no other geyser in the world this accessible.

“It reminds us if we don’t respect and look after Papatuanuku, Mother Earth, we are all gone,” says Ngarepo.

Conservation and understanding is an integral part of the guided tours. But for the ten full time guides Manaakitanga, the sharing and caring of people, is also invaluable.

“If at the end of a tour, the only thing they remember is our name, we’ve succeeded because we’ve made a personal connection,” says Ngarepo.

“It’s not all about knowledge. We share but we listen as well and maybe all of us are enriched by the short time we have together.”