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Story & Song, Culture Alive

Visit the beautiful Bay of Islands, north of Auckland, and immerse yourself in fascinating Maori culture. 

INCLUSIONS

• 2 nights Copthorne Hotel & Resort, Bay of Islands
• Culture North Night Show

ITINERARY

The Copthorne Hotel & Resort Bay of Islands will be your base from which to explore the Bay of Islands. The resort is next to the historic Treaty House, where New Zealand’s founding document was signed in 1840. Adjacent to an scenic golf course, the Copthorne has native bush walks and some of the best big game fishing in the world! This is an ideal location to explore the aquatic playground of the Bay of Islands.

On your first evening in the Bay of Islands you will immerse yourself in the fascinating Maori culture by attending the Culture North Night Show. Shrouded by the beauty of the Waitangi Treaty grounds, the carved Maori house is a meeting house for people by day, and a theater for international tourists by night. At night the marae is transformed into a magical setting where performers from the Culture North night show tell visitors to Northland the real story of New Zealand. A contemporary production combining drama, music and dance, the show relates the traditional story of how two cultures, Maori and European, settled in New Zealand.

Intimately and authentically staged, the journey begins as you are ushered through the historic grounds where the treaty was signed. Modern day descendents of both cultures meet and welcome guests to this special place beginning with an authentic Maori welcome and ending with the re-enactment of the story of their forefathers, both of whom arrived by sea in this mysterious and beautiful land.

Dramatic lighting, a powerful and intelligently written script, told through the eyes of a grandparent and his grandson, guests are intimately transported back 1000 years then forward to the 19th century and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of New Zealand. The experience is sure to educate, entertain and enlighten. Uplifting music and song has stirred thousands of international visitors to emotional depths as significant moments in New Zealand’s history are carefully and sensitively portrayed in this natural and deeply historical environment. After the show, guests are invited to meet and mingle with the cast to ask them each their own story of how they arrived in God’s own country.

The rest of your stay in the Bay of Islands is yours at leisure to continue your jouney of cultural understanding.