Orakei Marae

By Ashleigh Leonard

‘E toru nga mea’, sang the students from rooms 1 and 17 of Ponsonby Intermediate. They were on their way to the Orakei Marae for their weekly E.O.T.C (education outside the classroom) trip.

After the long and boring bus trip, they were told to sit and eat their lunch on the grass outside the Marae.

Later on they were greeted by Whaea Morena and welcomed to the Orakei Marae. As the students entered the Marae they were greeted by two more friendly faces, Bob and his cousin Whaea. After they had listened to the brief ‘karanga’, they then started their ‘waiata’. After a shaky start they soon found that all of their hard work and practise had payed off.

Bob then told them some interesting history about the Marae and about what they were going to do with the tree from One Tree Hill. They were going to carve it into some of their ancestors.

It was now time to go back to school and finish some work, Thanks to the teachers and the parents, the trip to Orakei Marae was successful.