By LOUISA CLEAVE
MT HIKURANGI - With mud squelching between their toes and misty cloud swirling around their heads, the Ngati Porou cultural group gave a rousing performance to the world.
But the sun they were calling to rise was invisible behind a wall of cloud and the cameras set up to
show the sunrise to a billion-plus viewers were fixed firmly on the performers.
When the director called "cut" there was no hanging around.
The 500 guests and 100 volunteers and television crew who had braved a freezing night, lashings of rain and a constant wind hastily made their way off Mt Hikurangi, either by four-wheel-drive or on foot - both offering a slippery trip down the muddy track.
At the bottom, people talked of a night full of emotion and deep spirituality, even though their aching bodies were feeling the effects of the weather and little or no sleep.
There was some criticism of the lack of shelter, especially for the elderly, at the specially cleared site where the celebrations took place around and within the compass-like setting of nine stunning sculptures, representing the iwi's spiritual, physical and human dimensions.
Marquees had been set up below the site, a walk of five to 10 minutes down an unlit road that became muddier as the night wore on.
The ground space in them had been quickly claimed and some people chose to weather the night exposed to the elements to ensure they would not miss this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Like many others, Lilian Baldwin was undaunted. "I don't want to miss anything that is happening here," she said as she sat wrapped in a sleeping bag.
"I feel Ngati Porou being here. I feel the spiritual side and for me that's the importance of being here."
By 8 am the buses were filling up, taking people back to Ruatoria for a champagne breakfast.
As one person said, they might not have seen the sun rise in the physical sense, but it had risen in their hearts.
