Pēhea te kaha o tō mātou hīkakatanga ki te kaupapa nei?! Tē ine!
How pumped were we for this kaupapa?! Words can’t even measure it! We hit the road from Kaikōura on Monday, the car jam-packed—including my nephew Tahi Buster, who came all the way from Piripane to witness Te Matatini, plus an old generator in tow for Koro P in Taranaki!
We arrived that night and spent Tuesday getting everything sorted for our three-week stay. That evening we linked up with more whānau—the Taurua-Crombies—before heading off to our first day at Te Matatini on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, we missed a couple of our Te Waipounamu kapa—Ngā Manu a Tāne and Te Ahikāroa—which was a real shame, but out of our hands. Luckily, we made it in time to catch Kōkō Tangiwai and heaps of our kura kaupapa whānau performing in the days that followed—e hika mā, e hika mā, poho kererū mātou ki a koutou katoa! We were bursting with pride watching you all! And that waiata from Te Kuru Marutea?! Far out—BOOM! Kāore āku kupu! No words!
It was wera rawa atu te pāmahana-scorching hot the whole time—which meant lots of shade-hunting under trees, swims in the moana, and bottles of waimāori always at the ready! Being back home was the cherry on top—with my Māmā Aroha, Tessa’s parents Nana D and Koro P, our babies with their big cousin Tahi, and getting to show our Ōtautahi mates and East Coast whānau (Mihi, Jaymi, Reyne, and little Tiare) around our beautiful Taranaki.
Bring on 2027! The big question now is, kei hea Te Matatini?
Check out some of our whakaahua (pics) below; our Te Matatini 2025 YouTube video is coming soon!
