On Monday, 23 September the Westland Kapa Haka Group traveled to
Greymouth for annual Te Hui Ahurei o Te Tai o Poutini Kapa Haka Festival.
We, the mana whenua ascended the stage to begin the festival with a pōwhiri,
welcoming guests and participants to the event that day. Following the pōwhiri,
the MC was introduced and went through the safety briefing.
He then announced the first group to perform on the day, Greymain 1.
After them Greymain 2, who was the competing group performed.
Following the first four groups that morning Hokitika Primary School performed.
Following their performance, I left the theatre for food. I bought two waffles, one
for myself and the other one for Jett. I also bought a snow cone and a sausage.
I returned to the theater and sat there to watch a few more groups. Early that
afternoon we instructed to go to the changing room. There the boys were
handed piupiu and the girls were given their skirts and tops to change into.
Once changed we did a couple of run-throughs of our performance. At about
2:25 pm we were led downstairs and into the theatre eventually lining up
backstage. There we waited until Buller High School had completed their
performance. Finally, our turn had arrived

We were lead onto the stage. Our performance began with the Te Atua,
our waiata tira followed by the whakaeke, Tenei Te Tira then the waiata-a-ringa
E Kore Nei e Pikoko followed by the poi Tūhonono nei the haka
Te Māwherataka and our final item the whakawātea E nga iwi. We
exited the stage and sat down to watch Greymouth High School. Once they
finished, we returned to the changing rooms and changed back into our school
uniform. We then returned to the theatre to watch the prize-giving. Westland
High School won overall. We then left the theatre and went to McDonald’s
before returning home to Hokitika.  

Nā Zion Cook

My trip of nostalgia

Saturday, it was time for our trip over to Christchurch for Disney on Ice. I was really happy to go but wasn't looking forward to the long drive as I get car sick. Just before Arthurs Pass, my stomach ached and I felt hot and threw up out the van window.

Later, I woke up in Springfield and was relieved because the drive was almost over and I was now very hungry. Luckily we stopped at Sheffield so I bought a mince and cheese pie 

When we arrived at Te Pihopatanga I was very happy to get out of the van, grab my bag and set up my bed. Afterward, Natal, Tiare, and l played hide and seek. I was in for the first round and found both of them pretty quick. I thought this game was going to be so boring but by round two, I had completely changed my mind - Natal was now in and as he started to count, Tiare and I made a mad dash to the metal shed. 

Tiare shouted, “ Let’s run behind the house!” 

I willingly agreed  replying, “ Let’s just run from house to house.”

But it didn't work because as we tried this, Natal spotted us so we tried to run back to our original place but Natal quickly found me and then spotted Tiare. 

Next Tiare wanted to be in. We stayed outside until we were called in to get ready for the Garden City Restaurant. 

I was super excited to go as I had been only once before so I was really keen to return to the same restaurant a year later. The food was amazing! Jett, Natal and I made a pact that we would eat as much food as possible so we carefully loaded our plates. Jett said he was not drinking any water as this could make him full but Natal and I drank. When I finished my dinner, I rushed over to get some ice cream for dessert but had to wait for Tiare to finish getting his first. In my mind I was screaming “Come on move! I need my ice cream.” Finally, he moved and yay, it was my turn. I pulled the lever and watched the ice cream slide onto my plate. After a while, we all left to go back to Te Pihopatanga. 

Tiare, Jonlee and I went into the kitchen to sing and when we were finished it was time for bed. I was feeling pretty tired after such a long day.

The next day, I was excited as we went to the mall. I just really wanted it to be 5:30 pm but I had to slowly wait out the day. We got to go to Margaret Mahy Park. Jett had never been so Natal and I gave Jett a tour but this was cut short because we were told to go to play netball, so we moved from one court to another. The court we eventually played at had two fake rocks that Natal and I climbed upon. We named our rocks- one pride rock and the other hyena rock. I was on hyena rock and Natal was on pride rock as he tried to figure out what was going to happen at Disney on Ice. 

Finally, it was time for….. (dramatic pause) Disney on Ice! Like the new remakes, I didn't know how I felt about having people playing these nostalgic Disney characters 

But just like the remakes, it was cool and after the show, we got to go to HELLS PIZZA!

The next day, we got ready to leave, we repacked the vans and left for our return back to Hokitika. We even got to play again in the snow. I was relieved to get out and play as on our way over,  I was too ill and didn't get to play in the snow. 

A  big thanks to all the tuakana for coming and keeping all of us out of trouble and thanks to all the teachers for giving us this nostalgic trip.

Nā Zion  

                                      

                          

he mahi mo te hui ahurei. ko tenei te kapa haka