Welcome Home Mara ~

Felt like we were all being welcomed home; what a feeling to be a part of Maras coming home and all this family coming out to welcome her and all her Canadian friends!

Their Marae is beautiful with attention to every detail; warm and welcoming.  We heard the stories of how the Marae came to be, a couple of the Aunties that started it in their garage; the story of their Waka; and then we heard from their lawyer.  A daughter of the Marae, has been working hard on behalf of her family along with her Kaumatua; this was a very intersting and informative presentation.  

The Bella Bella group had it in their heart to honour Mara, Binny and Marj in the presence of their families; this was just an awesome way of thanking Mara for all she has done for their community.  Binnie and Marj were honoured for their leadership and sharing of their culture with us throughout the trip.  Maria explains how she came to packing these beautiful gifts into her luggage; unsure what their purpose was going to be.  Well it was meant to be; that the three gifts be used to honour our three Maori hosts.  Maria shared the story of the crests on the back of the vests; and then bravely shared her song with us, which she declares “only rocked out in the shower”.  Well Maria, you gave these three the best honour they could ever receive, is for you to sing just for them.  Again….not a dry eye in the place!!  Thank you to the three B’s for honouring our friends. 

We all gathered in the meeitng area for lunch; we had a feast of seafoods and lovely salads and roasted vegetables.  Topped off with the best Pavlova yet!!  Another great day; great to meet all of Maras Whanau at her Marae.

 

 

While Mike went golfing, I joined another group on a tour of the fabulous Hawkes Bay wineries!  At first it seemed a little early (10:00 am) to get started on a wine tour, but by the time we stopped at the first one we were all in.  The first stop was Clearview, it was quite a small vineyard; had a nice little bistro area so Jennifer, Brittany and I decided to just sit down and order some cheese and wine.  It was a yummy stop, had a nice glass of pinot gris, some nice cheese and then off we went to the next one.  

Next stop Elephant HIll, this was a really nice winery, decor was very modern.  Bought a great bottle of Cab, that Mike and I enjoyed back at the hotel that evening. Next stop, a very small vineyard called, Askerne, very small and very busy.  The guy serving the tasting was by far the most engaging and fun!  He really took the wine tasting experience to a very casual and fun experience.  We chatted with a couple of locals who really like this winery, so that always makes me feel good that the locals buy from there too.  He also knew that the best way to sell a good dessert wine, is serve it with a piece of dark chocolate….SOLD!!  Left there with a lovely bottle of Dessert Cabernet; it might make it home, but I doubt it.  Then it was Craggy Range, where instead of wine tasting we went in for lunch.  They had a very rustic restaurant, big large wooden tables, it was really nice; and good food!

All and all, a great winery tour, enjoyed the company of our group (Kim knows her wines!)  

HAWKES BAY MAKES GREAT WINE!

 

Today is pick your activity day!  I (Mike) am going golfing with Keith and Maras Dad, Richard Andrews at his home course, along with his golf pal Joe..  Richard is really happy to be able to take a couple of the tour guys out to his course.  It was a great day for golf; we got a really early start, picked up at 7:30 am.  We golfed at Maraenui Golf Club, 18 hole, par 72;  conquered the course with a 96!  well…thats if connecting with every third tree is conquering…

Might have been the pace of our play, but they sure play hurry-golf, i think we spent an average of 8 seconds on the greens.  Was great actually, we finished our round, despite kicking the ball around, in just under 4 hours.  Had a bite to eat in their clubhouse, and pitched in $5 to a group lottery, the jackpot was $26M!  haven’t heard from Richard since….

all and all a great day