Sunday in Rotorua

Early on Sunday morning we went looking along the shores of Lake Rotorua for a 9 AM service at St. Faith’s Anglican church in the Ohinemutu neighborhood. Our guidebook had indicated that this was the region’s first Maori settlement--both pa (fortress) and marae (meeting house). The original church was built here in 1835 but was destroyed in inter-tribal warfare. Today’s church has an interesting Tudor architectural exterior which was popular when it was built in 1910. It is the inside, though, that is the treasure. The benches, pillars, and pulpits are beautifully carved wood and the walls are covered in woven flax panels of various designs. The front communion table had Tapu, Tapu, Tapu (Holy, Holy, Holy) carved across the front. A side chapel added in 1967 is intricately carved and ornately decorated like a chief’s house. At the front of the chapel is a large clear glass window that looks out to the lake and on which a figure of Christ wearing a Maori chief’s cloak has been sandblasted. Christ appears to be walking on Lake Rotorua. Sadly no pictures are allowed.

The service itself was interesting as well. We had trouble finding parking and the church was full. The congregation was probably half white, half Maori. All the songs were sung in Maori while the liturgy alternated between Maori and English. Even though the words were not familiar, the hymn tunes mainly were. Most were well sung with simple guitar accompaniment although the wonderful Lenten hymn “Alas, And Did My Savior Bleed” was sung with organ and ended acapella. The priest was a definite character and there was much laughter throughout the service. A little Maori girl was baptized during the service also. At the end of the service, I noticed congregation members greeting each other with hugs and kisses as well as hongi (pressing together of noses).

After church we went back into the center of town to stroll through Kuirau Park, a typical large city park with playing fields, a few gardens, ponds, playgrounds. The most interesting feature is that there are fenced off steaming spots throughout the park--sort of like ho, hum, here’s another one. We also saw a couple of small shallow warm pools for soaking one’s feet--which were being used.

 For lunch, we went to Burger King! Sad to say, it was quick, easy and cheap. We headed back to Putaruru going the long way around Lake Rotorua. Along the way, we stopped at Hamurana Springs for a short loop walk. What a pleasant surprise! It is another spring fed river that flows into Lake Rotorua. Before arriving at the actual spring source, however, you walk through a large stand of redwood trees (we haven‘t been able to discover when or why they were planted). Cool, quiet, and nearly deserted. Standing above the deep blue spring source was remarkable also. The perfect Sunday afternoon walk.

spring source

Our countryside drive back to Putaruru was short and easy. I noticed that every few miles was a sign for another marae. Many more Maori live in this area than did in the South Island.