On a beautiful evening on Friday 19th October, there was a whanau hāngi at Geraldine High School. The hāngi was expertly put down by Mr Len Hawkins. He worked tirelessly for two days to prepare the hāngi, which involved a variety of specialised tasks. Digging the pit by hand, lining it with carefully selected volcanic rocks, lighting a large fire to heat the rocks, and weaving flax mats to cover the food in the baskets.

After about five hours, a delicious selection of beef, pork, chicken, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin and cabbage was cooked to perfection. The meal was enjoyed by students, whanau and staff. The evening was a fantastic opportunity to get to know whanau, students and staff.

We are hoping to have another hāngi in Term 1 next year to welcome new students and whanau to the school and to reconnect with existing whanau

A big thank you to Ms Eliza Williams, Mrs Lisette Henry and Mrs Stacey Muru for all their organisation and hard work to make the whanau hāngi such a wonderful evening. Mention also must be made of the help from Mr Mike Stephens and Ms Suzie Cleave.