Hui at Te KoawaTuroa o Takitimu

From the South Coast of Otago we continued our journey along the stunningly beautiful windswept south eastern beaches of Southland to Invercargill. We have been so fortunate that Leslie’s sister and brother-in-law, Helen and Derek McKinnel, have allowed us to use their home as a base for this trip. Sadly this is our last visit to their home with elastic walls for this holiday.

Re-charged and replenished we headed to Riverton and during a quick visit to the museum we found what we believe to be a damaged photograph of Leslie’s great, great grandmother Peti Mi. There is more investigation to be done to validate this claim but for now, the resemblance between this photo and that of Leslie’s great grandmother Caroline Church (nee Mi) is remarkable.

Following this discovery Leslie made a quick detour to the cemetery at Riverton, the burial place of Caroline Church and now, we believe, Peti.

It was then time to travel to the lodge at Te Koawa for a hui (meeting) of the Church cousins and their families in the presence of the Takitimu Mountains which have kept a watchful eye over this family for longer than records can tell.

Over two days Leslie’s Uncle Alistair, Aunty Barbara, 10 cousins, their partners and children ate, drank, talked, walked, laughed and swam together.

Only 3 cousins were unable to join us at some point during the weekend with 19 of us dining together on Friday evening and 23 on Saturday evening. Sharing kai (food) has always been part of Leslie’s whanau (family) tradition and so each meal was cooked and presented by different family members… and we feasted well.

On the Saturday we were very fortunate to be able to join a tour of other iwi (tribe) members to visit sites of ancient Maori rock drawings. This was a wonderful experience, with members of the group performing karakia (prayers) as we approached each site. The tour finished with more karakia and a beautiful waiata (song).

For some of us, we had hope to learn more about our whakapapa (ancestral lineage) and Alistair shared this with us in his quiet unassuming way. For others, it was a chance just to chat about old times and catch up on what is happening in our lives.

As we headed off towards Te Anau on Sunday with our bellies and hearts full, there was plenty to think about. Some had travelled from Australia, we had come the furtherest; others had come just a few kilometres. We may not all think the same, and we may not all be heading in the same direction but something ties this family together. Was it the wonderful Nannie Church the cousins shared; the Takitimu Mountains that witnessed their growing up or is there a greater atua or wairua watching out for them all?.

Haere ra, kia pai te haere.