Kia ora whānau,
As we bask in the warm weather here in the deep south, we welcome the arrival of spring and the new life that it brings. The arrival of spring is beautifully summed up by the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
“And the Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.”
So to those of you who are gardeners, it’s time to get cracking as the growing season is nearly upon us. This is also a great time for tamariki to get involved by planting a few seeds and watching them make the transition through germination to harvest. This time of year also heralds the arrival of the long-awaited whitebait season. We hope the whitebaiters among you are enjoying a prosperous harvest. Do you know we now own a whitebait stand on the Aparima River? This is available to whānau to use through a booking system. Read further for more details.
The kapa haka group has been busy rehearsing for Murihiku Polyfest. This magnificent celebration of Māori and Pasifika culture has really gone from strength-to-strength and now runs for a full five days. It is supported by almost every school in Southland and a few from Otago. It also features many early childhood learning centres. I am sure all the hard work the kapa haka group have been putting in will result in polished performances all round. Well done team.
Over the last month we have seen a number of different groups utilise the marae. Takutai o Te Tītī hosted the tane whaikōrero wānanga, He Whānau Tamariki programme, a kaikaranga wānanga and the Aparima College responsive writing group. We also had the general monthly meeting, which ran alongside the Ngā Taonga Programme. It is lovely to see so many people visiting our beautiful marae.
The last month has also been a busy for the office and the executive with a seemingly endless round of hui including the Cultural Mapping hui. We also had a visit from the Whai Rawa team who ran a workshop. As you can see we have many diverse things going on. So if you, or any of your whānau are interested in becoming more involved in the work of the rūnaka, please contact us at the office for more information.
If you have enjoyed a birthday in the last month or have new additions to your whānau – congratulations. We wish you all good health and prosperity for the year ahead.
Takutai o Te Tītī.
Te Anau holiday home
Did you know that we have a comfortable house for whānau to rent in Te Anau? This property sleeps eight and is in the heart of the town. It is within walking distance of all amenities and only a short distance from many of the tourist opportunities the region has to offer. Please contact the office for further details or to make a booking.
Contact details
We are progressively updating our membership database to improve the quality of our information. So if you or any of your whānau have moved house or changed email address or phone numbers then please let us know as soon as possible.
Communication with whānau
We are looking at ways to improve our communications with whānau and are exploring different mediums as to how to get the word out there about what is going on.
We have created an opportunities page on Facebook. This page will carry details of any opportunities for our members such as, details of scholarships, bird transfers, vacancies for representatives on various boards and much more. The link below will take you to this page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oraka-Aparima-Runaka-opportunity-pages/1615071675378752. In the interim we will continue to send you emails, however if you no longer wish to receive emails please let us know.
Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka Inc Society
Annual General Meeting 10am, Sunday 9 October
Takutai o Te Titi Marae, Ōraka/Colac Bay.
- Chairperson Report
- Financial Report
- Annual Report
- Adoption of new Holding company constitution.
Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka Holdings Ltd
Annual General Meeting (following on from the AGM of Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka)
- Chairperson report
- Financial report
- Annual Report
- Reappointment of co-opted director/s.