Where can I experience Aotearoa's Māori culture?

1. Te Urewera

The rugged landscape of Te Urewera spans more than 2,000 sq km and is the North Island’s largest rainforest. Among its landscape of lakes, waterfalls and misted canopies live nearly all of New Zealand’s native birds species. It’s also been the home of the Tūhoe people for centuries, with currently around 7,000 Indigenous people residing in and around the Te Urewera river valley. In 2014, a world-first law released the rainforest from government ownership, and it was handed back to the Tūhoe people who now claim its legal kaitiaki (guardianship). Quite uniquely, the law also gave Te Urewera the same legal rights, powers, duties and liabilities of a person.

How to visit: Tūhoe-owned tour operator Te Urewera Treks offer guided treks and off-the-grid experiences to show manuhiri (visitors) this unique natural area to showcase their ancestral home in an inclusive and respectful way.

2. Waitangi Treaty Grounds

One of Aotearoa’s most significant historical sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands) is where New Zealand’s founding document, the Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), was signed in the year 1840. Essentially, the treaty was a sign of respect between the British Crown and more than 500 Māori Rangatira (chiefs), although disagreements over its terms continue to this day. Before to the arrival of Europeans, Waitangi was a place where Ngāpuhi hapū and Ngāti Rāhiri gathered seasonally. The site has been well preserved and is now welcomes visitors to explore its two contemporary museums, the Treaty House, and Ngātokimatawhaorua – the largest ceremonial waka (canoe) in New Zealand.

How to visit: Admission to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds is valid for two consecutive days and includes a guided tour, full access to the historic sites and a Māori cultural experience.

3. Waipoua Forest

Kauri are among the world’s longest living trees and are endemic to Aotearoa. Growing in the ancient forest of Waipoua Forest, near Dargaville, is the tallest kauri tree to exist. Named Tāne Mahuta (Father of the forest), the 50-metre-tall tree is thought to have been growing for more than 2,000 years. The Māori named the tree after a mythological god, and consider Tāne Mahuta to be the guardian of all the forest and its wildlife. Waipoua Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of native forests and the protection of it is of the upmost importance due to the threat of kauri dieback.

How to visit: Māori-owned Footprints Waipoua takes guests on guided tour through the forest, incorporating storytelling and Māori waiata (song).

4. Te Rerenga Wairua/Cape Reinga

Where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean at the tip of the North Island, Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga) is considered the most spiritual place in New Zealand for Māori. It is here where, after death, Maori spirits take their final journey back to their ancestral home in Hawaiki. It is also home to the Pohutukawa tree, considered to be approximately 800 years old. The spirits are said to leap from the tree into the ocean on their way to the afterlife.

How to visit: Guided coach tours to visit Te Rerenga Wairua operate daily from Kaitaia and Paihia in Northland. Salt Air’s Cape Reinga Fly/Drive half-day tour is the alternative way to experience Te Rerenga Wairua from both the air and the land.

5. Whakarewarewa Valley

Rotorua is often considered the epicentre of Māori culture. Whakarewarewa Valley is particularly important to Māori, who have lived in harmony with its geothermal activity for centuries. In Māori Mythology, the goddesses of fire Te Hoata and Te Pupu visited New Zealand from their homeland of Hawaiki and left a landscape of volcanoes, mud pools, geysers and hot springs in their wake - Whakarewarewa Valley being a visible example of this today. The Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao people still remain here, sharing their lives and legacy with all those who visit.

How to visit: Manuhiri (visitors) to Whakarewarewa Valley can take guided village tours by local Māori, follow geothermal trails and also hire an e-bike to explore the surrounding area.

6. Taranaki Maunga

The 120,000-year-old Taranaki Maunga stratovolcano is one of Aotearoa's most perfectly formed volcanoes and the North Island’s second highest peak at 2,518 metres. It last erupted in 1774, with volcanologists believing it to be dormant rather than extinct. It has an important place in Māori legends, particularly with Taranaki Māori, who consider the volcano an ancient and sacred ancestor who their people descended from. Taranaki Maunga is anticipated to become Aotearoa's third natural site to be granted legal personhood, expected in 2024.

How to visit: Tour operator Walking Legends offer a four-day walking tour of the Taranaki region, with guide-led hikes along the well-maintained tracks providing insight to the unique flora, fauna and Māori legends.  

7. Kāpiti Island

The now-uninhabited island of Kāpiti lies just 8km off the coastline of Aotearoa’s mainland within the Cook Strait. It is New Zealand’s oldest nature reserve preserving native plants and birds, including Kaka, Tieke, Kiwi, Kereru and Kakariki species. As well as its natural importance, it also has place in Māori history: Ko te Waewae Kapiti o Tara Raua ko Rangitane was the full name given to the island by Māori around the year 1150 AD. The name describes the meeting place of the boundaries of Tara and Rangitane, the son and grandson of Māori chief Whatonga who divided Aotearoa. In the years that followed, Kāpiti was dominated by different Māori iwi (tribes), before it eventually became shared with colonial whalers by the 1840s.

How to visit: As a predator-free island, Manuhiri (visitors) must have a permit to visit Kāpiti. Family-run Kāpiti Island Nature Tours obtains this permit for you as part of the visitor fee for guided walks, overnight accommodation or self-guided excursions. The island has been in their whanau (family) for eight generations since 1820.

8. Te Awa Tupua/Whanganui River

The Māori iwi (tribes) who have lived along the Whanganui River banks for more than 700 years have always viewed it as a sacred place, taking their name, spirit and strength from the river. The 290 km waterway became the first river in the world to be recognised as a living being when it was given legal rights as a person in 2017. Now, the Whanganui Journey has become one of Aotearoa’s ‘Great Walks’ (although it’s a paddle, not a walk), with important Māori sites en route, as you canoe down the river, weaving between wondrous canyon walls and luscious rainforests.

How to visit: Book a guided 3-5 day trip to ensure not only safety, but also to learn about the spiritual presence of the awa (river) and its history. Owhango Adventures and Whanganui River Canoes are both options.

9. Kaikōura

This town on the South Island’s east coast is steeped in Māori tradition and mythology. According to legend, the demigod Māui – famed for the creation of Aotearoa – used the peninsula of Kaikōura as a foothold when he fished the North Island’s seas. Māori have lived in Kaikōura for approximately 800 years with iwi (tribe) descendants still living here today. The earliest Waitaha inhabitants resided in its coastal caves and hunted for moa (and extinct flightless bird). Kaikōura sees a large population of whales just off its shoreline due to the deep waters found here. When the whaling industry boomed with the arrival of European settlers, numbers sadly declined, but Aotearoa’s marine mammal protection policy has seen them return and flourish in this safe environment.

How to visit: Book with Whale Watch Kaikōura, operated by the Indigenous Ngāti Kuri people of Kaikōura who offer thrilling close encounters with the Giant Sperm Whale year-round.