I te 19 o Iwa, i whakahaua mai kā rakatahi Kāi Tahu ki te marae o Tuahiwi mō te Kura Reo Rakatahi. He rourou iti tā tātou nei noho ki te whare o Maahunui II, ka mutu, he whakawhanaukataka, he ako waiata tā tātou nei mahi. Ao ake i te ata, i whakarerea mātou i te Tai o Maahunui kia kotahi atu rā ki te Tai o Marokura, ki te marae o Takahanga mō te roaka ake o tā tātou nei wānaka. E whai ake nei ko kā mahi i oti nei i a mātou;

Rāapa 20 o Iwa
I whakatika mātou i te marae o Tuahiwi, ā, ka raua hoki kā taputapu i ruka i te pahi. I tū te pahi ki Cheviot mō te paramanawa kātahi ka parahutihuti te haere ki Takahanga. I pōwhiritia mātou e te hau kaikā, i kai hoki. I taua ahiahi, he whakawhanaukataka, he akoraka reo, he ako waiata te mahi. I te pō, i waimarie mātou i te taeka mai o Matua Maurice Manawatū ki te kauhau mai ki a matou mō te marae, te whare, me ōna whakairo tukutuku hoki o roto.

Rāpare 21 o Iwa
I tēnei raki, i tipi haere mātou mā ruka pahi i te rohe nui o Kāti Kurī. I tae atu mātou ki te marae o Mangamaunu, ki te ākau o Ōhau hei mātai nūkere, ki kā whenua o Waipapa me kā wai puna o Haumakariri. I hoki mātou ki te marae mō te kai o te rānui, kātahi ka kaukau mātou ki tātahi, ā, haere tonu rā ka tae atu ki kā pā tawhito ki Pari Whakatau. Te mutuka kē mai o te pai o tā tātou haereka, kā mutu, he nui hoki kā kōrero, kā mōhiotaka i tākoha mai e Matua Maurice.

Rāmere 22 o Iwa
He nui kā mahi i tēnei o kā raki. I te ata i hoe waka mātou i tētahi o kā ākau ki te toka o Kaikōura. Nā te āio o te wai, i whāi wā mātou ki te tākaro kēmu i a tātou i te wai tonu, i pakaru mai te kata i te kiteka atu o kā rakatahi e oma ana (e hika ana rānei) i kā waka. Me mihi ka tika ki kā mahi o Kaikōura Kayak. I taua ahiahi tonu, i eke pōti mātou ki te mātai tohorā. Kotahi noa te tohorā i kitea e mātou, heoi i kitea kā aihe tini e para ana i te wai. Nō mātou te whiwhi, ā, me mihi ka tika ki te whānau whānui o Mātai Tohorā (Whale Watch). I taua pō, i hākari kātahi ka tīmata te pō whakakahau ki kā whakaari a kā rōpū mahi.

Rāhoroi 23 o Iwa
I oho tōmuri mātou me te whakatika i tō tātou nei marae, i a tātou anō hoki ki te hoki atu ki te kāika.

Kāti rā, me mihi ka tika ki a koutou o Kāti Kurī i tāwharau nei i tō tātou nei kaupapa. I rakatira tō mātou nei noho ki oū whenua taurikura.

On 19 January, rakatahi Kāi Tahu gathered at Tuahiwi marae for the Kura Reo Rakatahi. Our stay at Maahunui II was short but full of whakawhanaukataka and learning waiata. The next morning we left Te Tai o Maahunui and headed for Te Tai o Marokura and the marae at Takahanga for the rest of our wānaka. This is a bit of a summary of what we got up to.

Wednesday 20 Jan
We tidied up the marae at Tuahiwi and loaded up the bus. We stopped off in Cheviot for a break before carrying on to Takahanga. We were welcomed by the hau kāika before having a kai. That afternoon, we continued to get to know each other, had a te reo session or two, and learnt some waiata. That night, we were fortunate to have Maurice Manawatu come and talk to us about the marae, the whare and its inside carvings.

Thursday 21 Jan
We went for a tour around the greater region of Kāti Kurī. We went to the marae of Mangamaunu, to Ōhau bay to see the seals, then to Waipapa and the springs of Haumakariri. We returned to the marae for lunch before setting off again, first for a swim at the beach before heading on down to one of the old pā sites, Pari Whakatau. It was an awesome journey and we all learnt heaps of kōrero and history from Matua Maurice.

Friday 22 Jan
We did heaps. In the morning we went kayaking in one of the bays to the South of Kaikōura. Because the water was so calm, we were able to play a few games – it was hilarious watching the rakatahi run across (or fall off) the waka. Big thanks to the team at Kaikōura Kayak. That afternoon, we jumped on a boat and set off whale watching. We only saw one whale but saw thousands of dolphins. We were really lucky and would like to thank the whānau at Whale Watch for the experience. That night, we had hākari and pō whakakahau with our work groups doing some skits.

Saturday 23 Jan
We slept in a little before getting up and tidying the marae and preparing ourselves for the journey home.

Finally, we just want to thank everyone from Kāti Kurī who helped to look after us and this event. We had a blast in your beautiful part of the world.

Takahanga Marae kmk

kayaking kmk

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