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FROM THE EDITOR
 Ok first my sincerest apologies for not sending out this edition at the end of January. Since starting my new job and with all the mahi we’ve been doing back at home, I’ve actually started getting mentally exhausted and at one point had even considered giving up continuing on with Kirituna Kōrero. Heoi ano, I finally found a bit of motivation and thought, what the hell, I’ll give it another shot. Anyway February was an extremely full-on month with our Whakaki whānau taking Ratana "Son" Kahukura’s kawemate back to Waikato, our Whakaki golfing stars coming out to play in our annual tournament, more wānanga being held back at home to identify our local landmarks and a kawemate held for Aunty Tussie Solomon’s brother, John Waaka. The month ended off with a wedding and a "Shag" party. Oh well no more mucking around, let’s go!
Aaron "The Kaiawhina" Munro
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Whānau from
Whakaki
travel to Taniwha Marae.
Friday
1-Saturday 2 Feb. 2008
 A number of whānau from Whakaki accompanied Willie Kahukura to take his son Ratana’s (Son) kawemate back to Taniwha Marae in Waikato as part of the Kingitanga’s "Poukai" tradition. According to information I’ve gathered, the Poukai were initiated by King Tāwhiao in 1884 as a means of helping marae within the Kingitanga who had suffered as a result of the Waikato Wars. King Tāwhiao is quoted as saying
"Kua whakatūria e ahau tēnei kaupapa hei whāngai i te pouaru, te pani me te rawakore, he kuaha whānui kua puare ki te puna tangata me te puna kai"
"I have instituted this gathering to feed the widowed, the bereaved and the destitute; it is a doorway that has been opened to the multitudes of people and the bounty of food"
 Today it is seen as a means of maintaining unity and whanaungatanga between those numerous marae that encompass the Kingitanga boundary and the kahui rangatira. A number of poukai are held at different marae each year and part of the kawa involves remembering those who have passed on.
For many of our Whakaki whānau it was an awesome experience and many felt that they were treated like kings.
Apparently Mum Maria Hook even got to have a kanikani with King Tuheitia himself! Tumeke alright!
Nā reira tēnā koutou Tainui waka. Nā koutou i toro atu ou ringaringa ki a mātou o te Whakaki. Tēnā koutou Waikato Taniwha Rau, he piko he taniwha, he piko he taniwha!
Whakaki
Golf
Tournament 2008
Saturday 9 February 2008
They came, they played, they drank and ate lots and lots and at the end of the day the big winner was Whakaki Marae. Yes folks the annual Whakaki golf tournament 2008 attra cted close to 100 golfers at the Mahia Golf Course with visiting golfers coming as f ar as Te Puia Springs, Tolaga Bay, Gisborne Park, Waikohu, Patutahi, Waikaremoana, Ruakituri, Wairoa, Napier and Hastings. Also among the golfing elite were our very own Whakaki whānau members, many of whom are professional amateurs in their own right and spend many a good weekend honing their skills on Mahia’s 9 hole course. One particular cousin who shall remain nameless reckoned he was feeling the pressure beforehand as his brothers had suggested to him that he had a really good chance of taking it out. However the results suggested something different! Neva mind Rewi! Many came sporting the latest in high tech golfing equipment complete with matching white glove and appropriat ely concealed compartments in their golfing bags for liquid refreshments! The battle raged from about 8 in the morning with the last golfers coming in after 5pm. Kai and presentations followed. The overall men’s division winner
was Peter Bremner of Mahia who won playing with a 3 handicap. Peter also has close ties to Whakaki with him being a past pupil of Whakaki Primary School. Sylvia Rutene of the Patutahi Golf Club claimed the overall women’s division winner with an 11 handicap. Both winners each took home a four-burner barbecue for their efforts. A big mihi must surely go to Aunty Pango Kahukura and those who organised a fantastic event. A big kia ora to those who sponsored the huge mountain of prizes (and I aint lying there were heapz!) as well as those who helped prepare and serve kai. Next years tournament is set to be even bigger than this year
Shay
Prepares
for the Australasian Badminton
Tournament in
Perth.
Received a couple more updates from our Gisborne based cuzzie Heni Waikawa who reports that her daughter Shay continues to train hard in preparation for the Australasian Badminton tournament in Perth. Heni is the wife of Eddie Waikawa who is the son of Uncle Bob and Aunty Hei.
3rd February
An update on Shay. She completed a training Camp held in Gisborne last weekend with the Central Regions NZ U19 CP Madden Squad. The team had an awesome time even though it was raining the whole time. Part of their training included, running the Midway Beach, running over Kaiti Hill, Waka Ama for 2 hours, Running out to Whangara from town and Fitness training for 3 days in the Badminton Centre. They are training for the Australasian tournament in Perth in July this year. Her next training camp is in Wanganui 15-17th February. After that training is in Wellington 14-16th March.
20thFebruary
Just a catch up after Shays badminton training in Wanganui last weekend. A long but speedy trip leaving home at 3pm and arriving in Wanganui at 8pm on the dot. Training started at 9am the next morning and we saved quite a bit on accommodation by staying with the Coach for a weekend. Lovely people who took really good care of us. Training was exhausting with the kids participating in the Mayoral Mile run. About 1pm on the Saturday we took the team to the stadium behind the Council buildings. I couldn’t see the name advertised anywhere, so kaore au e mohio! They all ran the 4 laps around the field in under 10mins with the fastest time by an adult at 4min. Our fastest lad was in just over 6min. Training was really intense with the team also running up the stairs to the lookout opposite the Wanganui river. Gee I gave that one a miss as I did the stairs last year and nearly had a heart attack, being scared of heights didn’t help either. Training finished on Sunday at 4pm with a really tired bunch of kids although they were really well fed by the local player’s whānau. Awesome! Shay's next trip is to Windy Wellington on 14 & 15 March.
A SHAG
Party
of
Course!
Saturday 23rd February
 What do you get if you cross a stag party with a hen’s night? A SHAG party of course! In anticipation of the upcoming wedding of Puata Tuahine and Ana Roberts, a special party was held in their honor with the theme being “The letter P”.
 This meant that whanāu had to come dressed as a character starting with the letter "P". Among those in attendance were a couple of pirates, a nutty professor, a pixie, a princess, a pussycat, some penguins and someone that either came as a Purple People Eater OR Prince!? (Wasn’t quite sure on that one!) Suffice to say as the night progressed the penguins started doing the "Happy Feet" dance and one of the Pirates got a bit seasick! However everyone had a great time with the last partygoers heading home at about 4am.
  
Daniel Hook Marries Nicolle Chessum
Friday 29th February
 Daniel Hook married Nicolle Chessum on Friday 29 February 2008 (Leap Year) at Blenheim after a 4 year engagement.
They were married at the Wither Hills Winery with the reception being held at Montana Winery, both wineries being on the immediate outskirts of Blenheim.
The wedding was attended by members of both sides of the family as well as a number of their friends from the Airforce.
The wedding party included Daniels brother Quentin, and youngest sister Nikita.
Wedding
Preparation - Puata Tuahine and
Ana Roberts
Friday 29th February
Planning for the wedding of Puata Tuahine and Ana Roberts had begun months earlier but the actual implementation started Friday 29th February with a number of wh ānau turning up at the marae to do decorations, set up tables and chairs, erect gazebos, arrange native flora and fauna as well as making final arrangements for the service and the programme. The day ended with the bridal party having a couple of practise runs to get the timing right for the waiata that were going to be used the next day. Friday was also a special one for Puata as he celebrated his birthday. Yes that’s right, cuzzie Puata is one of those Leap year babies and although in reality he’s just a shy over the big 50, LEGALLY he is only about 13 years old. (Chur cuz you know the rules, no drinking for you until you turn 18 ay!)
And so to celebrate the fact that he had finally come of age, some of our Whakaki men took it upon themselves to hold an impromptu MALE ONLY gathering in the kitchen where deep intellectual and philosophical conversations were held and many spiritual waiata were sung with great passion and in melodious three part harmony! (Yeah whatever!) Meanwhile our women worked tirelessly to put the finishing touches to the decorations in the big hall! We finally got the word to get to bed at about 1.30amish and although we could’ve continued on all night Puata did need his beauty sleep so he could be well rested for his big day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUZ!
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of A WEDDING IN WHAKAKI – PART 2: THE BIG DAY coming in next month’s edition of Kirituna Korero.
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