Tū te pou, tū te mana - Walls finally in place!

After months of waiting, some exciting news...

The walls are up outside my room!

 Niho taniwha (left) and poutama (right) patterns on the panels.

Poutama represents the journey and process of learning. One kōrero I like about this is that the upward movement represents gaining knowledge, and the horizontal movement the implementation and integration of that knowledge - a lovely balance of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, the mental and practical realms.

 The entranceway is just to the right of these panels. 

I was away with a māuiui last week, and came back to find the walls all in place. What a sight after waiting for so long! We are now just waiting on the gate to arrive before the sound garden is ready to open. 

In other news, our Year 6 students are getting ready to perform at HuttFest at the end of the term, less than two weeks away. This festival (previously called Polyfest) celebrates the different cultures in our local region, Te Awakairangi, particularly our Pasifika and Māori communities, and there will be lots of great haka, waiata, dance and more rocking the stage at Te Makō, the Walter Nash stadium. Our group will be performing two of my waiata, and I can't wait to see them up there!

During one of our practices, Tracey came up with her own spin on my Matariki waiata, jazzing it up with her own funky chord arrangement. Go you, Tracey!