Yes, this is our second public holiday this week, but don't go thinking that New Zealanders are always on holiday. They only get 11 statutory holidays, so no more than in Canada. But they are smart enough to take 8 of them between Christmas and Easter, during the best weather.
We walked down the hill to Founder's Park to attend the International Kai (that is Maori for food) Festival. It was a good deal as normally entry to the park is $7 for visitors, and today we got in for a few dollars - note the "Gold Coin Koha" wording on the sign (basically make a donation of a $1 or $2 coin). We have seen a few "gold coin" donation events in our travels.
We sampled a variety of foods, with Marlene particularly enjoying the coconut buns being sold by a Samoan church group. I went for the full meal deal and had the hangi prepared by the local Maoris. A hangi is similar to a Hawaiian luau, where the food is slow cooked in flax baskets over hot stones (or in this case pieces of railway track) in a covered pit.
When it was ready there was a mad rush to get served, and I had about a 15 minute wait in line to get my food, but it was the best $5 that I have spent in a while, with pork, lamb, chicken, cabbage, potato, pumpkin and kumera (New Zealand yam), all served "by hand" by the locals.
Another treat that was very popular was a small watermelon cut in half, with some of the melon removed and replaced with ice cream, all served with a little drink umbrella. Unfortunately I didn't save room for this delicacy.
There was quite a crowd present but we saw no issues while we were there, just people of all ages, shapes and sizes out to have a fun day in the sun.
Notice the sign in the photo below advertising the Maori Roll or General Roll. In New Zealand, Maoris can choose to vote in one of the 4 electorates reserved for Maoris, or they can vote in their home electorate.
All in all it was a great day out.
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