East As II

Whangara. This is where Whale Rider was filmed and took place. Becasue the village of Whangara is so small, and a lot of where they filmed is sacred (the marae, etc), visiting it as a tourist is pretty off-limits. apparently, after the film was released, tourists came and were walking all over their sacred grounds as if they were film sets, and that sent the villagers into quite a tizzy. Rightly so. So we had to take any photos from a hill above the village:

the top of the Marae, upon which sits at statue of Paikea and the whale on which he rode from the mythical island of Hawaiki to Aotearoa (New Zealand)

The house in which Paikea and her grandparents live in Whale Rider.

View of Whangara from hilltop.

Waka (war canoe) in which Paikea and co. sit during Whale Rider.

view of Whangara

Maori statue from top of hill in Whangara

After Whangara, we drove further east, and hit went to the East cape Lighthouse. This is the easternmost point in Aotearoa, and you must climb 754 steps to get to the top. Once you're there, though, it's well worth the climb:

Steps 735-742 on the way up...

Caroline in front of the lighthouse

East Island (view from lighthouse)

Caro and I in front of lighthouse

Our next stop after climbing all the way back down to earth is Ma's 'hood': the bay fromwhich he and his family and ancestors came. He took us to the church where much of his family is buried, and which he said was where they shot the GnR video for November Rain. However, we randomly happened to catch the video a couple of nights ago in a bar in Wellington and that ain't it. we did have to whip out our cameras to make sure, as it does look very similar, but it still ain't it.

What it does have, however, is a family of baby penguins living under the baptismal bowl, and the sweetest sign on the door of the church telling us about it:

Come ON!
Again, eat them right up...

From there Ma took us to view his whanau's marae, which is the meeting house and centre of each iwi (or tribe's) sacred space. from there, it was a couple of hours to our final destination and stopover: Te Kaha.

Te Kaha is a homestay run by Paul O'Brien (heretofore known as "Chay") and his family. Paul greets everyone as if he's known you forever, affectionately referring to everyone as chay (hence the nickname) and making you feel at home.

Our first point of business once we reached Te Kaha (after reating all the free scones and tea that we could get our hands on) was to get into our togs and hit the hot tub that is situated out front of the house and overlooks the rocks and the ocean beyond. We got there just in time to grab a beer, get into the tub, and watch the sun set. (Sorry, I don't have any photos yet of the sunset from the tub, but should hopefully get some from some friends). here's the tub:

By the time the sun set and we were slightly cooked, dinner was ready, which was a big roast meal of chicken, beef and rice, potatoes, kumara, and salad, followed by the biggest plate of chocolate cake, hot fudge and sweet cream. YUM!

Paul (Chay), who had been out up until then, rolled up with some of the other guests at the homestay (all a few sheets to the wind) and proceeded to greet us with hongi's (the traditional Maori pressing of noses, which symbolizes the sharing of breath and life force) and now it was time for songs.

Traditionally, when guests visit a Maori home or marae, a song must be sung by each side (guest and host) in order to clear the air of any ill will. Ma had prepared us for this, and we had been given enough time to learn two songs: one was written by Dennis and sung to the tune of 'It's a Small world After All':

We are one small group from the East As bus
Life is way too short to be in a rush
We are here to enjoy and not to destroy
It's a small world after all...

And yes, this was stuck in our heads for the next week...

The other song was a traditional Maori tune that was really amazing to learn and sing. The onyl way we could remember the words, however, was if we all took a photo of them:

It was awesome to finally feel like I was not only observing Maori culture, but participating in it, even if only in a limited way.

Following our songs, Chay and his group sunga song to the tune of the "Shut up, Just Shut up, Shut up" song by the Black-eyed Peas, but rewritten, of course.

We wound it up with some group songs, music, drinks, and fun well into the night:

Ma

Singing along with Chay

Frome left: Jo from Wales (with her back to us), Anne from Denmark, Rafael from Brazil, me, Martina from Germany, and Caroline

This time with FEELING!

Went to bed late that night, and woke up next morning feeling grand (really!). Had a big breakfast laid out for us, and we all just hung around and took in the incredible view until we had to leave:

Bruiser

Parting shot of Paul

Group photo

me, Kasper, Martina

view from Te Kaha window

Back on the road

Kiwi Traffic Jam

It's worth mentioning that I took this same trip when I was here last year, although they've reversed the route. I had a wonderful time the first time I did it, and am so glad I did it this way again. It's a tremendous experience with a small group of people, and you really get a clear idea of the beauty of this land, its people, and particularly the Maori culture.