Good Morning, Good Morning: The weekend before Waitangi and then our trip to Waitangi

Thursday, February 8, 2024

The weekend before Waitangi and then our trip to Waitangi

Hi,

I feel like I have been away for so long. I want to do a special post for my trip to Waitangi for the actual Waitangi Day event. But I will touch on it here.

No cat content below. You are warned.

We were lucky to tag along with people from work with koru membership. So we got to eat as we flew the length of the motu from Wellington to Auckland and then to Keri keri.

Koru lounge iced latte

Flight to Auckland

Dining hall

We were met at Keri keri airport by our bus driver and he expertly got us on the bus and whisked away to Lonsdale Park accommodation. Totally old school camp. But work supplied new sheets for the DoC style rubbery mattresses and it was luxury compared to tramping.

Lonsdale Park

We got bedding

And all the stuff to stay healthy

We got settled in and discussed the logistics of Waitangi Day. Really dived into the tikanga of it. What to expect so we were culturally safe. All the risk assessment dialogue and what to do should it need to be enacted. I will explain more in a later post.

Up at 3am after a 9pm bedtime. Bus left just after 4am and we parked at the petrol station in Paihia. Walked up to the Upper Treaty grounds through the dark. The service had started - but only just.

Dawn service

Sunrise

So many speakers. All with short kōrero. Then the piper and the flag raising just as the sun peeped over the far hill. Stunning. Cold! Standing in the dark we all got a wee bit chilled. Okay - Mike was shivering for ages.

Selfie

The rest of the day was in hot sunshine. And so much fun. A real family festival vibe. Stalls for kai. Clothes. Crafts. The sort of celebration of a bicultural country you would expect.

I teared up a few times at the emotional side of it. Seeing the unity of Aotearoa. Seeing the pride. The passion. I loved it all.

Hikoi flags

Selfie on upper treaty grounds

Hot now

Navy weighs in

Ladi6

After the dawn service and the hikoi kōrero, it was a real festival scene. Stages with kapa haka groups. Ladi6 at the end of our day. She had the audience up and dancing.

Back for fish n chips at the camp. And so tired. Off to bed. Up to clean and pack up. Then our flight home was delayed. But they held the plane in Auckland for us.