Taame Koria and Karmichael Samuels-Pauuvale share their experiences of their recent performance.

I am being painted black from my chin to my waist. Finally I change into my kapahaka uniform, then we go over our bracket a couple of times. We walk over to the hall and walk on stage. Everyone is clapping and cheering. Adrenaline hits after we run back to Poutama and get changed into our black and whites. We go back to the hall and do our final performance, 100% on the haka. I feel proud to be a part of the Whānau Pūmanawa.

Na Taame Koria

We get on the bus to go home and get ready for the Matariki Pō Whakangahau. We have a break for one hour. Our break is up so we have to go back to school so we can get ready for the Pō Whakangahau. After that we have one more practice of our bracket. My nerves start to make me sweat and I’m feeling really nervous because I might go flat or muck up. I say to myself “who cares!”. Finally, we say our karakia, we join hands and we walk over and perform our bracket, then we go home.

Na Karmichael Samuels-Pauuvale