Noho Marae Follow Up

On the 5th of March Ruma Tahi and Ruma Waru went to visit the
Noho Marae. We had to go through the Powhiri (welcoming) process
and share our mihis. Later on we went down to the Arahura river to
look for Pounamu, only four people found some. After that we
walked down to the beach and got into teams and made sculpture
of one of the characters from the legend Potini and Waitaiki.

After we got to the marae and we went through the Powhiri process
we had morning tea, which was some mini savouries and a slice of
red velvet cake each. After we had morning tea we went into the
Wharenui to share our mihis. W sat in a circle and took turns
standing up and sharing our mihi. Then we went down to the
beach and river to look for Pounamu.

When we got back from the beach, someone came in and told us
some legends, and we learned some of the things on and about
some of the carvings. We got told what the different colours on
the carving meant, they meant different tribes like, Ngai Tahu.
We also got told about what the carvings were carved into, which
was some old trees that they found in a lake.

Then we went and had dinner. For dinner we had chicken and
potatoes, gravy bread and salad. After that we had desert which
was pavlova and red velvet cake with some tinned fruit. Once
dinner was finished we some of us had to help the cook clean
and put away the dishes, and wipe down the tables and sweep
the floor.

Once we had dinner we did some activities, the ones I did were
rippa rugby and weaving. For rippa rugby we got put in teams, girls
vs boys, and the girls won. It was raining a little bit so we had to go
inside and play another game. The game we played inside was
where one person was blindfolded and they had a pillow and they
had to try and hit everyone else. If you got hit you had to sit and
wait until the next round. The person with the blindfold had to try
and get as many people as the could in a certain time limit.
For the weaving we got showed how to make a flax flower. I
managed to make one in the 45 minutes that we had, and I really
liked how it turned out.  

After that we made smores and sang some waiata. We sung songs
like Karoro E and He Honore. Each of the teachers there told
everyone a legend while we ate our smores. Mrs Ireland told us
about how a paua shell was sad and that everyone teased him,
and then he got a beautiful shell. We all slept in the wharenui, girls
on one side and boys on the other. We all went to bed around
10:00 pm.

In the morning we got up at about 7:00 am and got dressed and
packed up our things before breakfast. We had to take of the
sheets covers on our mattress and put them in a pile. The we
had to take our mattress over to the door, where there was a
cupboard for them to stacked away. Next we went into the
Wharekai to have breakfast, which was the option of, weet - bix,
toast, fruit, yogurt and some other cereal. Once we had breakfast
we got assigned jobs to do to help clean up. I had to help in the
kitchen and wipe down the tables and put away the dishes.
Some of the other groups had to clean the toilets, and some had
to clean the inside of the Wharenui. We put our gear by the outdoo
r fire and waited by the fire when we were finished our jobs.

We went on a walk, not far from the Marae, called the Mananui
Tramline. It was a quick walk to a lake where a battle took place
a long time ago. We had a quick snack while we were walking
back to the cars. I enjoyed the walk with my friends.

I had lots of fun at the marae, I enjoyed listening to the history
behind the carvings and going down to the beach to look for
pounamu. I also enjoyed going on the walk and working in my team.