Te Aurere Panui March 2004
Poutu-te-rangi 2004 Nana 2004
Kia ora,
Te Aurere is now back in Tamaki Makaurau at her berth at the Maritime Museum. Her sail from Kerikeri Inlet took 22 hours on Raahina 1 Poutu-te-rangi and Raatu 2nd. The crew were Captain Hekenukumai, David Nauer, James Eruera, John Harding, Terissa Busby, Peter Phillips and a very welcome return of `Moko" Henare. It was a fairly uneventful voyage apart from a couple of squalls which called for fast dropping of the sails. There were also two people on board doing some filming. They were Melissa Urlich, who also doubled as cook and Fred Renata, the camera man.
Now a big apology. Last month I made two glaring errors in the news letter. Firstly I spelt Ngatokimatawhaorua incorrectly and secondly Te Houtaewa was a very fast runner who used to run on Ninety Mile Beach. If he got below high tide mark nobody could catch him. There are two Maori names for Ninety Mile Beach that I have found; they are 'Te One Roa Tohe' and 'Nga Tai O Wharo.' These were given to me by Hekenukumai. My most sincere apologies for these errors. I usually get the letter proof read before I send it out but somehow last month it managed to slip through the net!
Hekenukumai has asked me to let you know the reasons for the slow progress on the new waka hourua. Funding that we were expecting was cut by three quarters and has not allowed us to get the extra labour that we need, meaning that there have only been three men working, instead of perhaps four or five. We have not been able to employ carpenters that are so very badly needed to get the waka to its next stage of construction.
Te Aurere Waka Wananga 2004 got off to a brilliant start on 19 Poutu-te-rangi 2004. This year we started a course of Ma Te Reo for our students who all seemed to enjoy it - even those that could already speak Te Reo. The waka went out on Raahori and Raatapu and was accompanied for part of the time by the 25-foot double-hulled waka Pu-mai-te-rangi. Some of the crew were swapping waka! Raatapu was a day for practising their tacking. Although there was not a lot of wind the motor was used to get the speed up.
Next wananga is on Anzac weekend 23 25 Paenga-whawha 2004 and will be held in Tamaki Makaurau for the last time this year.
This month the takere and manu have been added to the new waka hiwi. Hekenukumai has also been carving the tauihu. The fibreglass has been sanded down to prepare the hulls for the anti-foul paint.
Well that"s about it for this month. Take care of yourselves and be good to each other.
Noho ora mai, Michael Harding
Who said that? "My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She"s ninety seven now, and we don"t know where the hell she is!"
Ellen De Generes.
Glossary
Hiwi - Hull
Manu - Front
Nana - March
Paenga-whawha - April
Poutu-te-rangi - March
Raahina - Monday
Raahori - Saturday
Raatapu - Sunday
Raatu - Tuesday
Takere - Keel
Tamaki Makaurau - Auckland
Tauihu - Figurehead
Te Reo - Maori Language
Waka - Canoe
Waka Hourua - Blue water sailing canoe