Whakataki whare first step in $1m restoration

A million-dollar project to resurrect the Whakataki Marae moved a step closer at the weekend with the renovation of an historic whare on the site.
Charles Morunga, Te Hika a Papauma ki Wairarapa secretary and landowner, said the million-dollar project is working to a 10-year time frame after the restoration of the historic three-room cottage, once occupied by Ihipera Patuwai until her death aged 116 as the longest-lived New Zealander.
Mr Morunga said a confederation of four Wairarapa hapu, that also includes Ngati Hamua, Te Runanga o Ngai Tumapuhia a Rangi o Wairarapa and Te Runanga o Akura, are committed to the development, which comes after several years of fundraising and planning.
The working party on Saturday will also include the clearing of fallen pines and debris from the Te Wai O Turanga "washpool" near Wharepouri mark in nearby Mataikona, he said.
"The cottage is still in pretty good condition. We'd already finished cladding and repainting the exterior but needed to clean the interior, work on the veranda and fence it off," Mr Morunga said.
He said there are about 300 people registered on the hapu database who trace a lineage to the marae although this is thought to be only a fraction of the true number of descendents.
Te Hika a Papauma ki Wairarapa chairman and landowner Robin Potangaroa said the project to restore the marae and surrounding sites is also planned to include the building of a motel that could house from nine to 13 guests in separate cabins with other onsite facilities, including internet connections, a conference room, and consultation and medical rooms.
"The development should not just be a part of the community, it should become a community resource and a hub for the entire district."
Mr Potangaroa said the proposal would satisfy a constant need for accommodation at the resort area and fits with the concept of "today's marae".
"The project is a way forward for the whole community guests can stay at the marae or the motel and the modern marae must have facilities like a conference room and net connections.
"The work on the cottage is a way of getting family to come back and become involved. If you can't redo an old cottage then how could we hope to rebuild our marae?"
Mr Morunga said a marae committee is to discuss the next phase of the project during a meeting at Easter. The original name for the marae was Matira, he said, which was a reference to Castle Rock and translates as white rock or lookout point. A possible name for the rebuilt marae would be Rangiwhakaoma, which is the original name for Castlepoint that translates as speeding clouds.
Ihipera "Bella" Patuwai, recognised as the oldest district inhabitant with a shawl and illuminated address three years before her death, was the sole survivor of the marae and lived alone in the cottage next to the decaying pa.
The Hamua-Kahungunu woman had married Irishman Charles Hudson and was living in the district at the landing at Deliverance Cove of Williams and Colenso in 1843 and worked as a child at Castlepoint Station for the Guthries, a pioneering couple in the area.
Bella died suddenly on April 24 in 1951 after a five-week illness and is buried on a shaded hillside overlooking her whare and pa site, "which is unusual, because most Maori are buried facing the sun", Mr Potangaroa said.