Whittakers Abroad: A busy fortnight

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been incredibly busy over the last couple of weeks. The highlights of the last fortnight have been last weekend's stay at a marae and today's 'Round the Bridges' race.

Noho Marae

Noho marae means 'marae stay' in the Maori language. It was my first ever visit to a marae and I was quite nervous beforehand, but I needn't have worried, as I had a great time. I took a disposable camera with me, but frustratingly it didn't work, so I've not got any photos to post.

After taking part in the powhiri (formal greeting ceremony) and eating a meal together, the main event of Friday evening was the mihimihi, where every person stood up in turn and introduced themselves by giving their whakapapa (genealogy) in the Maori language. Some people (like me) simply listed their grandparents, then their parents and finally introduced themselves and said where they were from. Others gave a much longer and more detailed family tree. There must have been over eighty people in the room, and it took nearly three hours for everyone to introduce themselves, but it was a really good comprehension exercise and I amazed myself by not 'switching off' at all. Apart from the hosts and our university tutors, everyone else was a beginner, and it was great the way everyone supported the person who was speaking, especially anyone who was struggling , either with the language or with nerves from speaking in public.

On Saturday morning we learned about the history of the village, which was founded as a Christian community shortly after the First World War by a man called T.W. Ratana. Here's a link if you'd like to find out a little bit about him.

weaving flax ('borrowed' image)

After lunch we had a flax weaving workshop where we were taught how to make a simple bracelet. This was my favourite activity. I found it very relaxing.

I wish we'd looked this good!

Finally we learned a Maori song and dance about fishing for seafood which we then performed at the farewell ceremony at the end of the afternoon. In the time we had, I think I could either have learned the tune, or the words, or the dance, but trying to learn all three was a real challenge!

Round the Bridges River Run

This annual charity fundraiser is in its 29th year, and offers a choice of two courses - one 7.9 km long and the other 4.7 km. As I only started running in February I thought it safest to train for the shorter distance. At one point I thought I wouldn't make the race at all. I developed a very sore throat on Thursday night and spent most of Friday in bed, feeling really rough. I thought I'd got a throat infection and assumed I wouldn't be well enough to race today. Fortunately, it turned out it was just a cold, and by this morning I felt fine.

As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be well enough to race after I'd thought I wasn't going to be able to, and I was even more delighted to get round in 28 minutes; three minutes faster than when I ran the course in training two weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the race and I'm keen to run a proper 5k at the earliest opportunity.