Death of the Maori Queen

Hi all

What an interesting week!

Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu died last week and the Maori community began a week-long period of mourning.

It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since people were celebrating her 40 years anniversary of being Queen.

Well - I've learned a lot:

Dame Te Ata's eldest son, Tuheitia Paki, was invested as the seventh leader of the Maori King Movement.

The King Movement was established in the late 1850s by Maori in the Waikato region in response to land losses to European settlers and to negotiate with the then colonial government.

The funeral itself was very impressive - from the coffin being rowed up the river in a waka (long wooden boat), to the carrying of the coffin up the hillside (most important members are buried higher up the hill), ending with the hakka as the coffin approached its final resting place.

There were representatives from the Pacific Islands present at the funeral too - Tonga, Hawaaii, Samoa, French Polynesia, Cook Islands - to name but a few. A beautiful tapa cloth was given by either Tonga or Samoa (sorry I forget which).

Tapa is made of the bark of the mulberry tree.

The bark is stripped off and pounded flat in such a way that it spreads into a cloth.

The tapa cloth is died and bleached by the sun and the strips are pasted together with an arrowroot paste.

In the Samoan tapa, the brown dye is made of clay which is dried, powdered and mixed with sap. The black dye is made of the shoots of a coconut tree. A lot of shoots are needed to make the dye...

The cloth is usually made into square or oblong shapes. The designs are created by placing the cloth over a carved wooden block, called 'upeti', the block is carved with the design, and the design is created on the tapa cloth by rubbing the dyes.




I have recently bought some the these lovely cloths from the market in Otara - they're really impressive and it's hard to believe they're made from bark! Daughter is taking some back to the UK for pressies. However, they're not as big as the one above!

There have been some amazing photos taken of the funeral. Here are a few from the BBC:

Her coffin being taken down the Waikato river to the traditional burial site, on the summit of Taupiri mountain.

This is my favourite photo - As the boats approached the mountain, Maori warriors wearing traditional clothing watched from the shoreline.

Well - life is still manic here in our manic little house:

• I've heard from my case officer that our PR has been approved in principal
• daugher goes back to the UK tomorrow via HK (sob - but she'll be back for Christmas)
• Kev has already gone to HK (for a short break to see his family last seen by him 4 years ago) and will be at the airport to meet her when she arrives
• we're still looking for somewhere to live (have to be out of rental by 30th Nov)
• the weather is getting lovely and warm again (whoopdedoo)
• son is headed for his 18th birthday (bought him some lovely shirts today - looks very trendy and grown up)
• we've had family portraits taken (they're fab and the one we finally choose to go on the wall in our new house will be either sepia or black and white)

Well - rather a serious and sombre one this week - but will be back to my old self next week with my various witterings!

Take care.

x Sue

Congratulations!

Son has passed his theory test - 100% - and is now able to have driving lessons!

They were very efficient at the AA - he took the scratch card test (you're allowed to get 3 questions wrong), so the results were immediate, he had an on the spot eye test, had his mugshots done and was given a temporary license until his new one came through the post (took less than a week).

Trouble is - I've got to do my theory now (being a newcomer to NZ) - what's the betting I won't pass first time?! Especially as son keeps waving his in my face with comments such as:

"Oooh I wonder what this is that I just found in my wallet?"
and
"Shall we book yours for next weekend mother?"

I am so unready.

Well - it will be spring in 2 weeks time and I'm looking forwards to it A LOT! Should be able to get into the water soon and am planning lots of snorkelling, boogie boarding and fushing and stuff! Quite fancy hunting for paua shells - they contain abalone (a shell fish that my family adore - not me - yuk) but I think the shells are really pretty for crafty type things. I will also look for scallops - not sure if they'll be too deep though?!

Watch out for scarey Sue in her board shorts and snorkel stuff with a knife in her hand to prise paua off rocks! (Must check what I can legally take first - I know it's 20 scallops per person).

Talking of spring - I have seen daffodils in full bloom and lots of baby lambs - cuuute!

Lemons and oranges and all things citrussy are bountiful - trees are just laden and dripping with them.

Last weekend, we met up with friends in Auckland (and a very cute little boy) and, after a wander, made our way to Mount Eden - and boy am I glad I did! The views were stupendous! Here's some info from a web site:

Maunga-whau (Mount Eden)

Mt Eden is one of Auckland's most famous landmarks. As the highest volcano on the Auckland isthmus it provides good views over the city and the Waitemata Harbour. Close to the centre of the city, Mt Eden is a constant reminder that Auckland is situated on a potentially active volcanic field.

However the news is not all bad:

The Auckland volcanic field is comprised of monogenetic volcanoes. This means it is unlikely that Mt Eden or any of the existing volcanoes will erupt again. The next eruption will probably occur in a new location.

Whew - so long as it's not Eastern Auckland!

The whole Auckland volcanic field has about 50 volcanoes - one of which (Pigeon Mountain) is across the road and was to be our haven if the tsunami hit!

Anyway - enough waffling - here're some piccies of the wonderful views we enjoyed on Saturday:



Can you see the Sky Tower and the Harbour Bridge?





Here's a view from the other side of the hill - you can see the monument on (n)one tree hill in the distance (another volcanic hill that used to have a tree until it was chopped down - because of fears strong winds could topple it, the 125-year-old pine tree on top of the hill was chopped down on October 26, 2000).



Fruit of the week is the tamarillo - very yummy - looks a bit like a tomato and I like it a lot!

Kev has also killed another white tail that made it into our front room - it was crawling down the wall at the time!

Tis deaded now - sent to heaven after being bashed by a slipper!

Well - gotta go cos I'm tired and still have LOADS of work to do - yawnie boring yawn.

Oh yeah forgot - I can now do the Maori stick song - we have lots of fun at school singing along and throwing rolled up magazines (pretend sticks) at each other!

Taught Corrie tonight - she reckons it will be good to teach her friends at uni - esp after a few drinks - tut - no culture at all these students......

See ya - off to bed now methinks..

Byeeeeeee.

x Sue - a very professional lady teacher.