Ngā mate

Kia ora Kāi Tahu whānau, firstly I would like to take this opportunity to send our deepest sympathies to our Tumahai and Jenkins whānau for the loss of their special taonga, Jasarah Amelia Jenkins. She was so special that our tīpuna needed her more in the heavens to share her beauty up there.

She was only here for a short time but she made a huge impact in all of our lives – she will never be forgotten. To the parents Ruihi Tumahai and Kurt Jenkins, kia kaha kōrua. We will always be here for you both, even though we are separated by oceans. Much love to you all.

Rā whānau

Alan Russell, Gary Lange, Aaron Tainui, Hamiria Hutana, Annabelle Lee-Harris, Rititia Read, Nora McQuarrie, Mahana Coulston, Tyson Hutana, Nadia Tainui, Jackie Curtain and a massive rā whānau to those who have birthdays but aren’t on our list.

Aoraki Bound

From 10-16 February, Ngāti Waewae had the pleasure of hosting Aoraki Bounders at the marae. It was nice to see some new faces. We have included a picture of the first rōpū, Kupe 602 that came through. The second group arrived on 10 March – sorry I haven’t yet got any photos of them, so I will have to put some in the next issue of Te Pānui Rūnaka.

It was awesome that they came here to stay, they are always on a good kaupapa. Whānau, I recommend that you look into doing this because it sounds like it would be an awesome hīkoi to be on. Maybe we will see you when you come to Arahura.

Group one of Aoraki Bounders.

Group one of Aoraki Bounders.

Public open day

On 28 February, Ngāti Waewae had an open day for the public. Around 250 people came to see our beautiful marae and it was such a nice day. We met so many nice people and all of the whānau (once again) pulled together to make the day run as smoothly as possible.

Speeches from the manuhiri.

Speeches from the manuhiri.

Manuhiri and Ngāti Waewae whānau during the hongi and harirū.

Manuhiri and Ngāti Waewae whānau during the hongi and harirū.

The big crowd.

The big crowd.

Ngāti Waewae whānau during the pōwhiri for the public open day.

Ngāti Waewae whānau during the pōwhiri for the public open day.

Pānui contributions

We welcome contributions from whānau for Te Pānui Rūnaka, so please send any news and/or photos to the email or phone number above, or visit the tari anytime. Nau mai, haere mai – we would love to see your smiling faces.