After months of planning and fundraising, on Monday, 22nd May the Level 1,2,3 Tu Rangitira class and Mr Mitchell, Whaea Yvonne and Matua Ivan set off in loaded vans on a haerenga to Kawhia, to trace the footsteps of their ancestors.  

They arrived at Te Kauae Marae in Te Kuiti for the first of many events on the trip. The purpose of the trip was to mihi to the final resting place of the Tainui Waka. After being welcomed on to the Marae  by Ivan, the students quickly got to work setting up their beds for the next three nights, and organised themselves into groups for chores for the week. 

Chores included: food prep, dishes, wharenui and toilets! Each group were responsible for their station and the groups swapped jobs each day. Whaea Yvonne cooked an amazing dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies on the first night and after dinner it was a games night and early to bed.

Day two started with an early wake up call and breakfast at 8am for the most important part of the trip, visiting Maketu Marae. The students were excited about this as this is the final resting place of the Tainui Waka. It is buried underground at this Marae. The group were welcomed onto the Marae and into the Whare Au Au Ki Te Rangi for a kai and a cup of tea. 

 After that they then were given a precious korero about the Tainui Waka and its descendants which included Raukawa, now known as Ngati Raukawa, the predominant Iwi in Foxton. After the korero they were then taken to taken to the Waka’s resting place. Each end of the Waka is marked with two standing stones named Puna and Hani.

They also drove to the spot where the Waka first landed in Kawhia, which was marked by two Pohutukawa trees that are still to this day standing proudly. There was said to have only been 40 people on the Tainui Waka and now, years later there are over 100 000 descendants of the Tainui Waka. After this they went to Aotea Harbour where some say is the place that the Aotea Waka was discovered, before heading back to base for Lasagne for dinner. After every group had finished their jobs it was off to bed.

Day three was another early start as they were heading off to Te Kuiti to Tokanganui-a-noho Marae to learn more about Te Kooti and his stay with the Maniapoto people. Here, students were also  told the korero about two brothers Whatihua and Turongo. Whatihua stole Turongo’s wife-to-be, so Turongo found a new lady named Mahinarangi. Eventually Turongo and Mahinarangi had a son named Raukawa.

Tokanganui-a-noho Marae is also a Marae of the Maori King. This was a highlight of the trip. Here the students were treated to a visiting primary school performing Kapa Haka, as well as an awesome feed! They went on a tour of this Marae and its history. Manaiapoto is the only Iwi in New Zealand who hold a Dawn Parade at their Marae. 77 soldiers from Manaiapoto died during the war.

On the way back to base they took a trip to the Hamilton Mall for some shopping and visited the Te Awamutu Museum, where a treasured taonga named Uenuku rests. This taonga was said to have been on the Tainui Waka. 

From there they headed back to the Marae for dinner, and had a quiz on what they had learned so far on the trip as well as a game of Maori scattergories. This game had a serious wager - the team with the most points at the end of the game could pick whichever of the areas of the Marae to clean that they wanted! A good way to avoid the toilets!

On the Thursday it was an early rise, pack up and clean up before setting off for home. It was a long drive but was broken down with a quick stop off at the Tokaanu Thermal Pools for a swim and a McDonalds stop for lunch.

It was a successful trip that the students really enjoyed.

“It was an awesome experience and I learned so much about the Tainui Waka and Turongo, Mahinarangi and Raukawa.” Moesha Rauhihi, Year 13.

‘The haerenga was something that none of us had experienced before. Even for people not from the the Tainui Waka like myself. I have learned a lot from this haerenga. It’s a once in a lifetime experience that reconnects you to your Maori roots because you have the chance to see where Maori have come from and where connections can be made with other people”. Leighton Briggs, Year 12

None of this would have been possible without the support of the three Pou who went with them. Mr Glenn Mitchell, Whaea Yvonne Seng and Matua Ivan Ngarotata e mihi ana. Thank you for all of your hard work to ensure the trip was a success.