Takina te kawa, te kawa ki te Ao. Te kawa, te kawa ki a Rangipotiki. Te kawa, te kawa ki a Papawhakahoranuku ki a Tūtewini, ki a Tūtewana, ki a Tūtewhakahihi, ki a Tūtewhakahaha Tū te pō, tū te ao, kia tū tangata e. Tīhei maurioa! E ngā manu parehuia, i tuituia te raupuhipuhi ki te ihu o tēnei waka tūpua, me tōna hīkoi ki te ara whakarauika, mauri ora ki a tātou. Ka tangi tonu te rau o te Pohutukawa, ka hotuhotu te tangi o te ngakau ki te tini kahurangi kei waenganui i a tātou. Koutou rā te ira wairua, kua riro ki te okiokinga, ki te taumata teitei, auē te tangi, auē te mamae, haere atu rā, e moe. Hoki mai ra ki a tātou te ira tangata, tātou ki te pare o te rā, ka tū. Nei rā te hā, me te mauri hoki o te Tau Hou ki a tātou. Nei rā hoki ngā hīhī o te Tau Hou, e menemene mai ana, whakamahana hoki te wairua o te tangata, he tohu rangatira, he tohu aroha ki a tātou. Tau te Mauri, Tū Pono, Tū Tangata, Tū Motuhake, Tū Tahutanga.
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the beginning of a new year. It’s always exciting to begin a year full with hope and promise, maybe even with the hint of Lotto numbers coming into view.
During the holiday period I was thankful that I could spend most of this time at Taumutu. You often forget how lucky and honored you are to come from an incredible, vast, open and wide landscape, poignant history and where the nor west wind can rip across the land leaving you dry, dehydrated, hot and bothered. Sometimes you forget how beautiful it is to walk along the beach, look across to Horomaka, the volcanic range standing proud above our Waihora. It is here you can truly admire the backbone of Te Waipounamu, the Southern Alps and at dawn and sunset you witness magic.
Often you neglect to see what surrounds you. Although the landscape will change there are some natural features that don’t. As I explained to my nieces and nephews one night while we frolicked and played on the beach, sunsets don’t change, the sun will always go down, sending rays of yellows, pinks, purples and reds. If there are clouds above they will turn to silk from the suns last light. On a clear night there will be millions of stars glowing. If you went back in time these visions would be the same, if we went into the future the sunset would be just as spectacular. People often talk about time travel well it’s actually not that difficult. Go to Taumutu and look skyward.
Another unique blessing of Taumutu is our connection to our kaitiaki, the piwakawaka (fantail). The fantail gets a bit of a bad reputation for being the bringer of sad and bad news, however at Taumutu they are our respected cheeky and much loved guardians. In other areas their presence inside a building is completely frowned upon, for us it is the opposite. A little shelf in front of a mirror is an unusual feature in the Taumutu whare. On the next page are some more facts about the fantail you might find interesting.
Nā Te Awhina Arahanga.
Happy birthday to the Capricorns, Aquarians and Pisces
Jayda Musson 16 January
Justice Arahanga Pryor 17 January
Aaron Koro Tamou Taylor 19 January
Te Awhina Arahanga 20 January
Te Rangikahu Tamou 20 January
Tuatini Te Waiho Arahanga 24 January
Sally Nutira 28 January
Manaia Te Kowhai Kuiini Tomairanga Arahanga-Pryor 31 January.
Millie Hill-Taiaroa 5 February
Rulon Nutira 11 February
Fiona Sloan 13 February
Hitaua Arahanga Doyle 13 February
Kanakope Riria Te Rangimarie Arahanga 8 February
Te Rangimarie Warena Tamou 24 February.
Piwakawaka – fantail facts
There are about 10 sub-species of fantail, three of which live in New Zealand: the North Island fantail, the South Island fantail and the Chatham Islands fantail. Taumutu is one of the few places in New Zealand where you can find black pīwakawaka.
Fantails use their broad tails to change direction quickly while hunting for insects. They sometimes hop around upside-down amongst tree ferns and foliage to pick insects from the underside of leaves. Their main prey are moths, flies, spiders, wasps, and beetles, although they sometimes also eat fruit. They rarely feed on the ground.
The fantail lifespan is relatively short in New Zealand (the oldest bird recorded here was three-years-old, although in Australia they have been recorded up to 10 years). Fantails stay in pairs all year but high mortality means that they seldom survive more than one season.
The success of the species is largely due to the fantail’s prolific and early breeding. Juvenile males can start breeding between 2–9 months old, and females can lay as many as five clutches in one season, with between 2–5 eggs per clutch.
Fantail populations fluctuate greatly from year to year, especially when winters are prolonged or severe storms hit in spring. However, since they are prolific breeders, they are able to spring back quickly after such events.
Both adults incubate eggs for about 14 days and the chicks fledge at about 13 days. Both adults will feed the young, but as soon as the female starts building the next nest the male takes over the role of feeding the previous brood. Young are fed about every 10 minutes – about 100 times per day!
