When Manuel Springford decided to speak te reo Maori on Mondays he did not expect he would end up being praised by MPs and having conversations in Maori with a woman in Picton.
Every Monday the Whangarei man exclusively speaks te reo Maori - no matter where he is. His idea for te reo Maori Mondays came when he found he had nowhere to use the language after his grandfather died.
After sharing his story with the Northern Advocate this month Mr Springford made a Facebook group called Maori Mondays - a place to learn.
"I thought there were so many people interested that it'd be a waste not to do anything about it," he says. "So I started [the group] with the idea that people could just help each other, awhi each other, with any questions."
Mr Springford said after an interview he did with Radio New Zealand he had people email in their numbers wanting to have a korero with him in te reo Maori.
"I talked to one lady in Picton. She was learning too so we just had a basic conversation which was pretty cool and we've been texting each other every other week and she's been asking questions."
On top of this Mr Springford received letters from Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis and Whangarei MP Shane Reti congratulating Mr Springford for te reo Maori Mondays. Mr Springford said he had no idea he would get so much attention for speaking Maori.
"I just did it for myself so I could practise but there's been quite a few people who are keen to take it on board and speak Maori on Mondays."
Mr Springford recently got back from Fiji and said he went through customs both ways on Mondays.
"At the airport it was quite comfortable because there's so many languages there anyway. I went and asked for a beer and pointed and the lady understood and I talked to everyone in Maori."
While the airport was a success Mr Springford faced some difficulty when he was in Fiji and tried to order a medium rare steak using a mixture of Maori and Fijian.
"I said something and she thought I was asking to go to the toilet so she pointed to the toilet. I kind of thought you could string together Maori and Fijian but that was the outcome," he said.
Mr Springford is also a part of punk band Wavepig.
He said he usually speaks te reo Maori at their gigs and said the band also had a Maori song.