When we got off the bus, we were at the Marae, everyone was playing on the beach. Lots of people were throwing stones and rocks into the water. One of my class mates lost their shoe in the water while he was kicking rocks. He was just standing there for a moment, then he went in the water trying to get his shoe. He didn’t want his clothes to get wet so he came back out. Then someone gave him a umbrella and he had another go getting his shoe. With the umbrella he got his shoe back. He tipped his shoe up side down and a hermit crab came out.
After that we all stood near the gate of the Marae. All the senior girls went at the front and the junior girls went behind them. Then all the boys at the back. This is one of the rules, girls go first when we are ready to go in to the Marae. When we are in the Marae, the boys sit at the front and the girls sit at the back. Just before the powhiri has finished we do a hongi. Most of us were nerves because it was there first time at a Marae and doing a hongi.
Then Mrs Gunson said that there will be coffee, tea, juice and biscuits for everyone. So we went up into the dinning room. We got a cup of juice and a plain biscuit. Some of use got seconds. When we finished, we went down to the grass area and had a play. Then Mr Elms are principle told us what was happening next. He told us we were going to go to the paua farm.
Next we went in the paua farm and…there was paua everywhere, baby pauas ,mummy pauas. There is a bucket of water on top of the paua, and it splashes down like a wave. Some of my classmates ate a raw paua, some thought it was nice and some spat it out. There is a black tank outside full of water and a tube which runs that water into a open white tank inside. This water is the water which splashes the pauas.
When we got back we said goodbye to the junior classes, then we all got changed into mufti. Everyone now had to get there sleeping bags and set them out on a bed in the wharenui. Mr Gunson talked to us about the carvings and patterns. It was really hard to listen though because a bird came in and most of us got distracted by it. After that, everyone went down to the beach and we found a dead shark and a sting ray. We were just playing around on the beach and some of us went back in the wharenui.
We then went for a walk up a hill. We went up iroam grove, and Mrs Gunson said it is maori backwards. When we got to the gate, Mrs Gunson explained to us why she brought up a milk container full of water. We went up to the very top and there was an amazing view. We saw people walking by at the bottom of the hill, and from up on the hill they looked like ants. We took photos of both of us classes on the hill. There was another way down and Mrs Gunon said we can go either way. I went the other down the hill this time.
The girls did some weaving out of flax. I made a cross, flower and a bracelet. I was proud of my work. The boys were practicing there haka. We then went up to the dinning room where the boys were practicing their haka. They showed us there haka and we showed them what we made. We then all had a cup of milo and Mr Elms said we have to be in the wherenui at 10 o’clock and we had 15 minutes to setal down. It was hard to sleep with people making noises and the torch flashing in your eyes, also when people got up and went to the toliet. Finally I got some sleep.
We then got changed out of our P.J’s and got are day pack ready. We all made are own lunch and just played around in the games room and outside. Then we all started to walk to plimmerton beach. I walked with Sahara and Natasha to the beach. When we were at the beach we ate are lunch and played around. Some of us were writing on the sand with sticks and some were jumping over the water. The water was quite cold.
We went on the train and arived back at school. I enjoyed the experiance of going to the Marae. I don’t think I ever would of had the experiance when I was older. It was good to go early in my life. I wish I can go again another day.