Greetings from the young and adventurous Hongi!! We successfully lived at the Marae for five nights. We stayed in Rapaki and were introduced to the Maori and their humble living area. The opening ceremony was fun, interesting, and made all of us a bit anxious. The important thing was, we were accepted.
Throughout the rest of the week, we got down and dirty (with the wildlife that is). We pushed through hikes, weeding and land work. Motivated by the spectacular views, the hikes were hard but we pulled through. Cleaning up the garden was a blast simply due to the presence of Robert who talked us through the hot and sunny work. We also planted and it was a gift to see Yvette’s eyes light up during that.
Overall, the stay was an awesome experience. From the beauty inside the Marae to the intriguing stories, from the wonderful food to the warm and loving hosts, and also from the vivid moments of teamwork to Eric and Jack eating worms. Entertainment, hard work and respect for one’s culture really did pay off. We will never forget that beautiful and lush time we had with the Maori people.