Whare Matariki

What a treat we had today, being welcomed onto the Whare Matariki and spending the day there in the Garden of Memories.

Whaea Taini, Karen and Paea were so welcoming. We had a pōwhiri, followed by some delicious kai for morning tea.

It was fun to play in the garden waterfall and hear stories of how Whare Matariki came about. The garden and whare were the result of the hard work of Emilia Maud Nixon, who lived from 1870 - 1962. I wish she could have seen how we laughed, played and learned about Māori culture during the day, a fruition of her dream so many years ago.

After morning tea, we took a walk through the ngahere, (bush,) where we saw medicinal leaves, tall trees and a piwakawaka nest.

Then a visit in Te Whare Taonga to see beautiful shells, flax weaving, photos and artefacts of old.

Back in the whare, we learned some waiata and played with woven balls, (ki,) and Āniwaniwa poi - we will definitely revisit the waiata and make some poi on a rainy day in the near future.

Whaea Taini also showed us the many leaves and seeds from native trees.

We were treated to pizza for lunch - thank you, ladies!

Then it was back to Whare Matariki to learn to weave with flax. The children did so well at making harakeke fish - much better than I did! If you want to try making one again, here is a link to an instructional series of photos, much like what we followed. 

Thank you so much to Whaea Taini, Karen and Paea. We loved the visit and felt so at home. The plan is to come back when the weather dries out a bit to help with some garden maintenance. Looking forward to it!

Kia ora!


Children, can you learn the waiata we sang together? We will revisit them in later weeks: