On Monday the 31st, we were very lucky to have a perfect day and a wonderful group of parents to support our visit to Rāpaki Marae. Tumeke Ngati Wheke for being fantastic hosts and providing our tamariki with this rich experience.

On Monday we went to the Marae. We were welcomed with a Pōwhiri.

And at the Rāpaki we went to the beach. To get to the beach we went on a narrow path that you could fall off easily. So it was 1 single line.

At the beach, Maui told us to find food that Maori people would have been able to eat long ago.

India found a very big crab claw. I found lots of clams and sea shells Then we walked back to the Marae. By Zaza

On Monday we went to the Marae. Maui took us to the beach. We were hunted for kai but Maui told us a legend! It was about a man who was in love but the lady didn't love him back. So he cast a spell on the tribe. So there was no food except a whale that was washed up on the shore. They ate it and died!

So that's why you don't eat food that has washed up on the beach. Anyways I really enjoyed the trip and thank you Maui for telling us all those legends. By Maggie

Hi, today I'll be telling you about a Māori story. And if you want to know what could be about, it's all about a little bit of meat.

On Monday I was looking for pipi. l found an alive pipi but you can’t eat them.

That's why I'm going to tell you later the story Maui told us. Now he told us not to eat the pipi and the mussels or we would die!

The story Maui told us was this: One time a tohunga was in love and a girl. Who like haha because the guy was in love with her. So the guy was really furious. So the guy used a spell. I don't know what the spell sounded like. Anyway, the tohunga summoned a whale. It died on the beach. The people ate the meat and died. And here is the thing- don't eat meat that washes up on the beach!

I liked that awesome story. By Charlie

The Kōwhai trip to the Marae.  Yesterday, all of Kōwhai went to …..Sorry, I had to cough anyway, dan da dan da dan the Marae.

Firstly they sang a song to us then we sang a song to them. Secondly, we ate food. Then Maui had a big talk with, us about a Mum and four sons.  In the Marae, the carvings were sooo good.

After that, we went down to the beach and I found a big crab claw and I took it home. Finally, we sang a song again and we went back to school.

I liked going to Rapaki beach because of finding my crab claw. By India

Me and my friend Emma put on bright yellow vests but her’s was orange but that does Not matter. .We went on a bus to the Marae the bus was very old school. Me and Emma sat at the front it was very bumpy. Me and Emma were pretty scared.

Me and Emma finally got off the bus. We walked down a long hill. We saw a car coming so we went to the side. Once the car went down the steep and bumpy hill, we kept walking down. We saw some pukeko they were blue with a red beak, they were pretty cute at least that was what I think. We finally got there.

A lady started singing a song to welcome us into the Marae. Before we went into the Marae we had to take our shoes off. Brendan spoke. Then we ate food, I ate basically everything.  By Heidi 

Firstly we hopped off the bus and walked down to Rapaki Marae. Secondly we sat down … Not really we stood up and then sat down. Yes let’s move on. Then they did some talking and singing and some more talking and singing.  Next we ate some popcorn cookies, doritos, oranges, rice crackers, sliced apples and cake!  To take the tapu away!

After that we talked about some legends. One of the legends was about four brothers that were looking for their father. Their father got into a fight on the horizon. The four brothers saw the fight and hurried away.  Because they hurried they got the karakia wrong.  The sea went wild and their waka tipped over. They sat on the waka. So waka became the South Island and the tallest of all the brothers is now Mount Cook \Aoraki.

We had lunch out of our own lunch boxes.

Next we went to the beach. Maui told us to find something Maori would eat from the beach. India found a crabs claw, Maggie found a paua shell, I found a cockle shell. Lots of people found pipi. You are not supposed to eat them because … A long time ago a tohunga fell in love with a woman. When the woman found out that tohunga loved her she laughed at him. The tohunga cast a spell that a whale would wash up on the beach and so it did.

The tribe was very hungry so they ate the whale. Everyone of them fell ill and died but the tohunga didn’t because he did not eat a single bit of the whale.

You might be wondering if the woman died, well I shall give the answer. She did! It would be true because all the bacteria would build up inside you.

After we had gone to the beach, we went back to the Marae. And did a second powhiri. Finally we heard the last stories and started wrapping the whole thing up.

Later we got back to the bus and went back to school.

I liked the Marae visit because I learnt so much!   By Jasmin 

Yesterday Kowhai went to the marae on the bus to learn about the gods. We went to the beach. I found a stick that looked like a ko. The food was delicious. We got to eat popcorn, delicious apple cake with pinky spots and crackers. We had to sit for two and a half hours. By Anna

Yesterday most of Kowhai went on a school trip on the bus. It was to the Marae. They greeted us and they put out plates of food. There was corn chips and popcorn. When it was time to stop we all ran outside. It was fun. Maui told us stories. Then we went to the beach. We had to find food. But we could not eat the food because it was poisonous. But it was a little bit of fun. I destroyed the shells. I loved the decorations. We came to learn. Then we went home and this is how. We walked to the bus. We hopped on. We went to our school. Then my mum picked me up.  By Ettie

Nilla’s Rapaki Marae trip.  Yesterday me and Kowhai went on a school trip to Rapaki Marae. We were going there for respect. First, we hopped on the red bus and started driving. Anna was my buddy on the bus for the drive there. When we got to the marae path we hopped out of the bus and we all had to walk down the hill to the marae in a single file line.Girls at the front,

boys at the back.We were down by the grass outside the marae.We put our bags in this guy's van to keep them safe. We went into the marae but before we went in we needed to take our shoes off. We went inside and sat down at the back of the room on the dark blue seats. Maui told us about gods and sang a song. Then Brenden said some things and Kowhai sang a song.After, we all had some kai.We went into a big room with tables, chairs,a kitchen and another table.On the table, there were popcorn,chips,crackers,oranges,apples,

cake and pretzels.We ate some food then maui took us for a walk at the beach .When we got to the beach we looked for food we could eat and I found some sea glass.Maui said that food you find on the beach you can't eat it.We took a photo and walked back to the marae and did some more talking.After that we went back to the school. By Nilla

Yesterday we went to a marae called Rapaki Marae. It was so enjoyable anyways let's get started. Only half the class their are all sick! So when I first arrived we all had to put on Orange road jackets. Then we grabbed our bags and left. When we got there we had to walk down the hill cause the bus driver didn't want the bus gears to glitch and break then we fall down the hill. When we got there we went to be welcomed which was so cool. There was a lady outside waiting for us. Then she did the Karanga as we slowly walked in. We went in and a man did a speech then we stood up and sang A song called Ehara i te mea. Then we ate some kai it was so incredibly delicious. Then we listened to some of the man's stories of course they were Māori ones. After that, me, Valli, Wyatt and some other kids played touch at playtime. Then we went to the beach and I collected shells they looked like tie-dye green to purple butterfly wings on the other side looked like peachy creamy sort of colour and when we got back we were ready to leave. By Indigo