On the 24th of October, seventeen year 10 students had the opportunity to attend the Waka Ama Journey with Whenua Iti in the Abel Tasman.

We left school as the sun was rising and started making our way to our first destination Kaiteriteri (Kaiteretere). When we arrived there, we did whanaungatanga games, set up our tents, had some lunch and went for our first paddle to learn the tikanga of the waka. It was a rough and windy day but we used Kotahitanga and set off into the open sea for a trial.

On day two of our trip, we set off early to paddle to Anchorage Bay. It was a long journey, and we stopped at various different places to learn about their history. We stopped for a break at Motuareronui / Adele Island, which is contained within the Abel Tasman National Park, and is a marine and forest life reserve. We pushed through what they called the Mad Mile, a nautical mile that had strong waves and currents. We paddled into Anchorage to see Ms. Shanks waiting for us on the beach with the mountains of bags we brought along. When we finally made it onto the beach, we set up our “Smurf City” and had free time for the rest of the day.

We started day three with a reflective moment on the beach to just be with yourself and your surroundings, which set us up for our relaxing day since the weather stopped us from being able to go out on the waka. Despite the weather we still made the most of the day and explored the park by walking across the bay. Once we returned we had a delicious hangi waiting for us that we had prepared earlier. We made plenty of new friends from across the region, who we played games with and made smores.

The last day approached fast and before we knew it we were rushing to beat the weather to begin our journey home in the safest conditions. Once again we faced the Mad Mile, this time with a smile on our face as we knew we would make it through if we all worked as one. With dedication, communication, and teamwork our never ending journey came to an end.

“ Don’t judge a book by its cover “ became a strong learning experience by the end of the waka journey. Going into this camp I believe we all had the mindset of staying with our friends for comfort, although we soon discovered comfort in others around us. Learning we had more things in common than we thought. The biggest take away from this experience ended up being each other. “Ma te kahukura ka rere te manu” adorn the bird with feathers so that it may fly.

Lusia Anderson, Jeasinah Alipia, Olivia Brown, Māreikura Nepia, Amelia Hood