Kāi Tahu whānui, tēnā koutou katoa.
Nei rā te mihi o Kāti Māhaki ki a koutou katoa.

Nei rā hoki te mihi aroha, te mihi poroporoaki ki kā mate huhua kua hika mai, kua hika atu. Ki a rātou katoa kua hika, haere, haere, haere atu rā. Moe mai koutou i te rakimārie.

Rātou ki ā rātou, tātou anō ki a tātou. Tēnā anō tātou katoa. Kua tau tonu te makariri ki ruka Poutini.

Winter is firmly entrenched here on the coast. Although we are not alone in experiencing the icy blasts, rain and frosty mornings typical this time of year, we have also been blessed with enough sightings of Tamanuiterā to salve the spirit – and it’s hard not to be impressed by the sight of our mauka ariki and Kā Tiritiri o te Moana at this time of year, cloaked in hukarere.

It has been another couple of busy months here on Poutini with the usual round of komiti hui and meetings keeping us extra busy.

Hīkoi Whakatipu Waitai

We are inviting expressions of interest from Makaawhio members who would like to participate in our next hīkoi Whakatipu Waitai. At this stage, no date has been set as we need a threshold number of participants.

If you are considering this amazing opportunity to reconnect with the southernmost part of our rohe and our kāinga there are a couple of criteria that you need to be aware of:

• You will be required to make a contribution towards the costs of the hīkoi
• You need to be fit enough to walk the 17kms on relatively-flat formed tracks
• You need to be willing to fully participate in all aspects of the hīkoi
• Rakatahi need to be old enough to be self-sufficient and self-managing.

Please contact the office to add your name and contact details to the list. If we end up with a surplus of participants, they will be shortlisted for the next hīkoi.

Annual Wero Mātauraka Reading Challenge

The rūnaka held its annual reading challenge for Kāti Mahaki tamariki in the July school holidays. All entries needed to be in the office on 4 August and we will be announcing the winner of the major prizes very soon.

Reading Challenge 2015 participants.

Pāmu Makaawhio

There has been good progress on our Makaawhio block since last month. Whānau driving past 855B will notice the huge improvement in the state highway fencing, with the completion of the new replacement fences making the section safe for the new stock being delivered.

Congratulations to Nathan Wilson, who has been contracted to manage the day-to-day requirements of the farm.

Makaawhio representative electoral ballot process

The recently elected Makaawhio Appointment Committee, Paul Madgwick, Marie Mahuika-Forsyth, Terry Scott, Stuart Barr, Bronwyn Te Koeti, Paul Wilson and Barry Rochford have held their first meeting. They have confirmed the selection and appointment process and applicant interviews will be held next month. An announcement will be made, once they have completed their process and the appointment has been confirmed by our rūnanganui.

Keeping in contact
Members will soon receive a letter with information on how to access the members-only portion of our rūnanga website. It has taken us some time to update our site and there are still areas to be added, but we hope members enjoy the new look site.

Also included in the letter will be an information update sheet. Please complete this form and return either by scanning to email or posting back. This will help us to ensure we have the latest contact information available.

Members can help by contacting the office and checking we have correct address and email contact details for you, your tamariki or your mokopuna. Facebook: makaawhio.blogspot.co.nz; Twitter: @makaawhio;
Phone: 03 755 7885 [email protected] or [email protected]
Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki hoki.
Mauri ora.