When the 20 of us arrived at the ferry on Waiheke islan, we were greeted by a Maori woman who had a tattoo covering her mouth. We loaded up our luggage into the vans and headed off to the Marae. When we arrived at the camp we were instructed to sit down so we could recieve instructions on the ceremony which was going to take place. We practiced singing a song in their language (I butchered every word) and then we were ready to go! The horn was sounded and all of us girls walked first. We were greeted by another Maori lady and the ladies sang back and forth. We then proceeded to sit for the ceremony. I thought that we were going to have loads of half-naked Maori people covered in crazy tattoos but there wasn't a tribe in sight. The women sit in the back and the men sit in the front. The Maori man looked a lot like Ricky Martin-Maori version and his daughter who was about 5 or 6 sat next to him. The Maori man spoke for a very long time until Dave spoke on behalf of our group. Then to end the ceremony we did the Hongi where you touch noses to share your soul with the other people. We then went to set up our beds in the Wharenui otherwise known as the meeting house. All of us were in the room and it ended up being one huge slumber party! We were instructed that no food, drink or shoes were allowed in the Wharenui because it is a sacred place and we weren't allowed to take pictures of the ancesestors. After dinner we did a Whakawhanaungatanga in the Wharenui where everyone got up and shared information out themselves. It was really eye-opening to learn so many new things about the people I've been with for a month. Afterwards we were shipped off to a local bar..thanks Maori people haha
Saturday, March 22nd
Wake up was 7:30am so we could have breakfast. My group had to clean dishes and it was gross. We then went to the Ostend Waiheke Island Market. This is a market filled with arts and crafts, fresh local fruit and vege, plants, Waiheke-made produce including olive oil, bread and preserves, local food stalls with an international flavour, Waiheke-made organic skincare, jewellery, new and secondhand clothing. I bought a really cool pair of pants. Then we headed off to Cable Bay Vineyard for a wine tasting. We tried 5 types of wine: Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2013, Pinot Gris Waiheke Island 2013, Single Vineyard Viognier Waiheke Island 2012, Malbec Merlot Syrah Waiheke Island 2011 and Syrah Waiheke Island 2012. I ended up buy the first one. We then got to hang out on the vineyard and either lounge on the bean bags or explore the vines. After heading back to the Marae for lunch, we got split into groups for two activities. The first was flax weaving where we made flowers. We were instructed that only the grandparent flax leaves could be used because they were dying. Fun fact: during flax weaving there was a giant spider on my arm. After flax weaving my group headed down to the beach where we got to go kayaking around the island.
The day was coming to a close so we grabbed some dinner, headed out to a local bar and when we came home we all hung out on the beach.
Sunday, March 23rd
We woke up and had breakfast. My group was then instructed to head outside for martial arts. We had run around the camp barefoot. m pretty sure tears and blood were almost drawn because there were so many rocks. Noa, our instructer was a stickler. She claimed to be a level 22 but she wouldn't show us any cool moves. We had to do stretching and practice saying words. Then we practiced with the stick to learn some moves. Noa had us shout OITZ when we struck. Then we went around practicing defense and offense against each other. It was very important to be gentle otherwise you could definielty hurt someone. Then switched activities and my group went to town. We got to shop around a little and then we went on a tour of the island. There were some nice view points that we stopped off at. Some of the million dollar houses we saw people vaction in only for 4 weeks! Then wewent back and had lunch. They were boiled hotdogs. Gross. I wanted to puke. And then I was instructed to clean the bathroom. Gross. After the Poroporoaki (official farewell from the people at the marae) we headed out to a coastal walkway that would take us to the ferry. The view was amazing and I was so sleep deprived I almost fell off the trail. Thankfully I had a nice nap on the ferry ride home.
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