Manea Footprints of Kupe — Attraction in Kaikohe-Hokianga Community

The staff are very nice and well meaning - and I can understand why they would want to add this one to capitalise on the success of the Footprints of Waipoua Forest tour (which is very good) - but it definitely needs some work to get up to a similar level.

You walk around the outside garden for the first 15 mins. We may have been unlucky with the guide on the day but they were very rushed and hard to follow - she assumed a lot of knowledge about the background to Kupe and the Māori gods and language that we didn’t have (going straight into specifics about the wood carvings without explaining who the individuals were or why they were relevant here).

Then you go inside and watch a film depicting Kupe sailing which would be fun for kids (as they spray water and air to add to the effects of the waves) but, as others have mentioned, is much more about the vibe of the sea life than providing any real historical info.

So we were maybe a bit unlucky that the person selling it didn’t explain this all very well but I couldn’t say I left understanding any more than when I went in, which was disappointing.

If you’re looking for something short with kids it might be alright but otherwise I’d stick to the forest tour which is...

The concept of the tour was very strong, but we had trouble following along. Beautiful intro walk through the park with traditional chanting/singing and explaining the varying taniwha (spirits). The theatrical/4D experience was beautiful but very very hard to understand at certain points. Perhaps offering headphones would optimize the sound to help, or offering some form of legible text/subtitles to help follow along. Especially for non-native English speakers or the hard of hearing. The performers and guides were stunning. The story room was also a really lovely idea but very hard to follow. Having the sound play out loud along with coming through the headphones made it very difficult for people in the room to concentrate on just one story. Choosing to have the sound just play through the headphones would be much better. Our favorites were the interviews with members of the community who spoke in the native Māori language, we would have loved to hear more of those. It gives you such a true feeling of the culture/people. Also having a bit more of a chronological lineup/guiding arrows through the room would have been useful. Regardless of all of these tidbits we really enjoyed the experience. Thank you so much for...

I can second the reviewer that said this is a solid concept, but could be so much better. We were hoping to gain an understanding of the Maori culture, but walked away more confused than educated. We visited February 5, 2025. It was just us and one other couple. We had a male and female presenter. He was engaging, she looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but there. She spoke so softly, even with a microphone, we couldn't understand anything she said.

You start off walking through the carvings outside, which are beautiful, explaining the world creation story. You then go into a theater to learn about Kupe, the first person to discover NZ. The stories didn't connect. The theater presentation was impressive, but the two presenters participated, but, again, you couldn't hear anything they were saying.

At the end, they leave you to explore their interactive video exhibit - but there is no real flow to it. We walked out more confused than enlightened. We had to go back to our lodging to look up the stories to better understand what we saw. At $40 (USD), this wasn't quite the experience we had hoped for. Maybe it's a different experience if there is a huge cruise ship...