Camp - Murihiku Marae

Thursday 29th November - 1.30pm

We were lucky enough to have a formal welcome (powhiri) onto Murihiku Marae.  We were all feeling a little nervous as we waited down by the archway for the kaikaranga to call us on.  After the welcome call we walked slowly up the entrance, pausing to show respect to the dead.  After taking our shoes off we were allowed into the wharenui where we took our seats for the remainder of the powhiri. 

The tangata whenua spoke first, telling of some of the history of the area and his people.  Then there was a waiata to support his speech.  Following that, Mr Harrex did a whaikorero on behalf of our school.  He did a FANTASTIC job, using a lot of Te Reo.  After his speech he put down the koha (donation) and we sang "Tutira mai nga iwi" to support his speech.  We all sang loud and proud.  Lastly, we all got to hongi with our hosts.  Most of us were very nervous about this part of the process but it wasn't too bad.  Some of the children even got kissed on the cheek!  After the powhiri was over, we were welcomed into the wharekai (dining room) for a powhiri kai, which was delicious.

The powhiri was a bit boring but we didn't disrespect the Tangata Whenua - Lucie

When we were walking through the gate up to the wharenui it was hard to hear the lady calling - Max

I got a kiss from a lady during the hongi - Mac

The powhiri speeches were interesting - George

Mr Harrex did pretty well speaking in Maori - Regen

Here we all are standing beside our favourite piece of art work inside the wharenui.

The tukutuku patterns were very interesting - Connie

I had to sleep by some koru patterns - Paris

The carvings were cool but I think it would have taken a long time to make - Toby

I liked the big brown carving at the back, especially the tongue poking out - Max

All of the carvings were very creative - Alex

They put alot of effort into the art work - Jay

The kai at the marae was scrumptious.  We were served a delicious dinner of chicken, corned beef, potatoes, carrots, corn and salad, followed by jelly, fruit salad and ice-cream for dessert. Mmmmmm.  We did wonder how we would swim after that with such full bellies!

Dinner was really awesome, especially the chocolate cake - Kurt

The kai was really nice.  I thought it was going to be Maori food - Abby

All of the food was scrumptious - George

I liked the chocolate cake the best, even though I only had one bite because I was full - Max

I liked the supper before going to bed - Emma

I thought it would all be Maori food but it wasn't - Rubie

All 36 of us slept in the wharenui (apart from Mr Crawford who very wisely slept in the mattress room!)
It was a bit tricky for some of us to get to sleep, as there was a lot of rustling of sleeping bags as people tossed and turned.  There were also some unusual noises in the night!  Eventually we did all finally go to sleep - with the help of Mrs O and Mrs May sitting in the room until 11.30pm!!!!

It was really hard to get to sleep with a room full of people - Hamish

It was very stuffy and hot and hard to get to sleep - Alex

The paua eyes freaked me out - Alex

It was easy to sleep with no people snoring - George

It was weird sleeping under the tangi window - Regen

It was hard to get to sleep surrounded by carvings - Max

When the sun shone through the window I woke up early - Kate