Night at the Marae by Hannah

Last Monday all of the Totara Team went to Tunohopu Marae.

When we arrived at the Marae, we lined up to get ready for the welcoming powhiri.

After we were welcomed on, we had to sit quietly for about an hour, which was boring and confusing because most of it was spoken in Maaori!!!

After that we got our bags from outside and put them in the room where we would be sleeping. My gear was squished up in one corner of the room. We then had morning-tea.

Soon after we all gathered together and were given instructions on how to make a poi. It looked easier than it was. I gave it a good go but then mine broke, so I had to start again. The time went fast and before i knew it, it was time for me to help with the haangi YUM!!!!

First Keighley and I helped with the potatoes, steamed pudding and the stuffing. We then went outside and made harakeke. Mine was really bad but I was proud that I tried my hardest.

Next we had lunch and we played I-Dare-You which was a lot of fun.

Finally the haangi was ready and we served it up on plates. It took a while and all of the serving people[me]had to eat last=[. It was soooo delicious. When we had finished I felt like I was going to throw up, because I had eaten too much!

Later on the teachers announced that we had a Kapa-Haka show. There was a lot of excitement, but there was even more when we heard that all the girls were going to learn poi. So we all got ready for the concert then the teachers gathered us all together in the wharenui and we all sang a couple of waiata untill the Kapa-Haka group came in. The performers were amazing! They were so loud, probably louder than the whole Totara Team put together, WOW!!! Mrs Norton asked me to thank them. I had no idea what to say but it worked out well.

After we learnt poi we all went to bed and had a good sleep.

The next day we got up and packed up all of our stuff and then we had breakfast. We then had an awesome tour around Ohinemutu, thanks to Mrs Norton. It was really fascinating to learn about the village.

After that we played games with Mrs Vercoe and Miss Cullen. We made up actions to tui,tui and we had to sing as well and each team had a little verse each. In the end we had an awesome and exciting action song. Later we played bang which was funny, so many people got mixed up. We ended up laughing our heads off [lol], then we closed up camp and headed back to school on the bus.

The next day we went to the Rotorua Museum and Te Puia. When we got to the museum the first thing we went to see was the family treasures display. My favorite treasure that I saw was Caylee's. Not just because she is my best friend, it was because it looked really neat how her Grandad's bowling ball was set out. It looked cool.

Later on we went and saw the Tarawera eruption movie. I sat next to Keighley. It was funny because Mrs Norton screamed when the seats started shaking and swirling around. Also, Mrs Norton's niece is in the movie. She is very pretty.

After that we went upstairs and there was a mirror display which was full of mirrors that shape shifted your body into diffrent shapes and sizes. We didnt want to leave but in the end we had to, so we went outside and got into the bus and went to Te Puia.

When we got to one of the hot ngawhas we cooked eggs and we got to eat them YUM!!! We also saw Pohutu Geyser erupting and we had to sing waiata and do the Haka so the geyser would keep blowing fiercely. We kind of put on a show for the tourists that were there, who seemed to enjoy our performance because they filmed us and applauded when we were finished.

Later we saw the amazing carvers. Too bad you have to be a man to carve. That was the end of our tour. What an amazing adventure I have had. A trip to remember!