Village Whare

Ohinemutu Maori Village on Rotorua's steaming lakefront, is one of my favourite places. I love wandering about the skinny streets, watching natural geothermal steaqm hissing up through gardens and gutters, the mud bubbling in nearby pools, the marae and the magnificent St Faith's Church. In among it all is this cute-as-a-button carved whare (house). I've always assumed it was part of one of the marae but on a recent visit, talking with one of the locals, they told me it is a private house that has been lovingly restored with a carved front and that someone does in fact live in it. It's such a lovely visual surprise, snuggled there among all the modern Western-stye housing. Wouldn't it be nice if more modern Maori considered doing this? How much more interesting our modern streets would look.

Maori Place Names - 56

Ohinemutu

Rotorua, North island

May 2009, Ajr

Maori Place Names - 53

Ohinemutu, Rotorua

Central North Island

May 2009, Ajr

One Carving, Two Views

Ohinemutu

Rotorua

May 2009 Ajr

Reflecting on St Faiths

This is one of my favourite shots of St Faith's Church in the lakeside settlement of Ohinemutu at Rotorua. I've taken dozens of photographs of this are and you'll see plenty more by clicking on either St Faith's Church or Ohinemutu in the label line below this post. In fact, if you scroll down, you'll see I've written a number of successive Ohinemutu posts this week.

Church Glass

I'm a big fan of churches. From an architectural point of view, they're one of my regular photographic subjects and when it comes to Maori churches, there is so much more to be inspired by. One of the largest and most ornate is St Faith's Anglican Church on the banks of Lake Rotorua at Ohinemutu in Rotorua itself.

Te Hahio o Te Whakaporo

The Church of the Faith

I love that almost every available surface is decorasted - either carved, painted or woven; and that the windows are embellished with beautiful Maori designs.

One of the most distinctive features at St Faith's is the Galilee Chapel Window, which features a life-size figure of Christ wearing a kiwi feather korowai (cloak). The figure is sandblasted on plate glass and by virtue of its placement, it appears as though Christ is walking on the waters of Lake Rotorua behind the church.

Beside the Lake

The small Maori community of Ohinemutu at Rotorua, is one of my favourite Maori places. Nestled into a small hillock on the banks of Lake Rotorua, it's a place of mood, culture and geothermal activity - a fascinating combination that usually sees me spending hours there on any visit to Rotorua. Apart from the fistful of houses, the narrow streets and the magnificent St Faith's Church, you'll also find some stunning examples of Maori carving - these two shots taken at the beautiful wharenui (meeting house) that dominates the main marae complex. I've posted many shots taken at Ohinemutu - just click on the name in the label line below this post to see more. www.rotoruanz.com

Maori Place Names - 46

Ohinemutu, Rotorua

May 2009. Ajr

Maori Place Names - 41

Ohinemutu

Rotorua

May 2009 Ajr

Lakeside Church

St Faith's, Ohinemutu, Rotorua. 2007 Ajr

This is the very beautiful St Faith’s Anglican Church, built in 1910 in an elaborate Tudor style and embellished with ornate Maori carvings. It sits beside Lake Rotorua in the little Maori village of Ohinemutu, once the main Maori settlement of the area and where Rotorua was born as a tourist town in the 19th century. I love this place with its hissing steaming vents, little puffs of geothermal steam gushing out of the ground, the pavements, the gutters – just wherever it bursts free. Maori in fact, still use geothermal pools in the area for cooking, washing and bathing. But back to St Faith’s – inside there’s an amazing sand-blasted window that depicts a Maori Christ, who appears to walk on the waters of Lake Rotorua seen through the window. The village is also home to the spectacularly carved Tamatekapua meeting house, which I featured here in February. (Just put Ohinemutu into the blog search box top left, or click on Ohinemutu in the label line below).

Ohinemutu Marae

Ohinemutu Marae, Rotorua. 2007 Ajr

Thinking of Rotorua recently, I was prompted to think of another of my favourite Rotorua places - Ohinemutu Maori Village. It's home to the historic Tamatekapua meeting house (above), the very beautiful St Faith's Church and a whole lot of stunning Maori carving, as illustrated in the exquiste and gigantic 'totem' here. What makes this place even more fascinating, is that the village sits right on the edge of Lake Rotorua amid a flurry of natural, steaming, hissing thermal vents. You can wander through the tight little network of narrow streets and see steaming rising from lawns, pavements and roadsides.