Noho Marae

Way back on the 19th November I travelled by bus convoy to my first ever 'sleepover' on a Marae.

Packing and planning was of course, last minute and harried.  I managed to forget the hairdryer and a pair of running shoes. And an umbrella!

Gloria and Gail, Queenie and Edith, Moana and I, for various reasons, were the only ones from our class to attend.  Thank goodness they were there, because they grew up visiting and staying on marae and they knew what to do, and when to do it. I was really nervous that I would stupidly offend someone.  I spent most of my time at the back and with my mouth shut.

We travelled to:

We were welcomed to the marae, and then listened to:




There was so much Te Reo Maori (Maori Language) that I'm sure the bruising on my brain would have been visible on a scan. With limited language knowledge myself, when told to speak only Te Reo during dinner, I could only think of questions such as 'no hea koe' (where are you from) 'Ko wai to ingoa' (what is your name).  

A karakia before taking the flax to be used in weaving:

Matua Fraser shared many local stories from the past, I'll write my favourite up later.

Te kai? Tino pai. (The food? Awesomely good)  I really enjoyed getting to know my class mates and Moana's husband. They have 10 children. They are so busy, so creative and calm, and so inspiring.

Our 'exam' was to speak on the marae for 3 to 5 minutes about our Tangata Rongonui (Famous Person).  I was so nervous. I thought I'd forget the korero (speech words), forget the pronunciation and then be unable to finish.  I wanted to talk without my notes and had been memorising for weeks, and learning the new vocabulary.

I talked about Dad.  I stood there with sweat running down my back (at 12 am and with a cold breeze coming in the Whare doors).  When I sat down I realised my hands had sweat so much the ink on my notes had run.  Thank goodness I didn't need them.

My waiata (song), with my classmates help!

The next day went so fast, packing up and fare welling the marae and people we met.

We visited Tane Mahuta (the great Kauri tree) on the way home.  Looking at the photos I'm not sure why we all felt we had to squish together?

  Our Kaiaku (teacher) had the tourists smiling

My class.