Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
Kātahi nei ahau ka hoki mai i tētehi mutunga wiki whakaharahara rawa atu, e mauroa nei ngā māharatanga ki taku ngākau ake ake.
I tīmatangia tēnei haerenga whakahirahira āku i te atatū o te rārima, nā wai rā ka hoki mai ahau ki te ūkaipō i te pō o te rātahi. Ehara au i te wahine inu waipiro, he ahakoa ko te kāinga i nōhia ai mātau kai Huangarua.
He whenua mahi waina. E hoa mā, mārakerake kau te poho o Tūkapua, anō hoki ki tūā ko te tāhūhū roa o Tararua.He whenua rangatira. Kātahi rā. He ahakoa tēnei whenua rangatira ko te tino mana o tēnei wāhi, ko ngā tangata.
He ākona ahau nō te Kuratini o Pōneke nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e whitu tekau. He ākona nūpepa ahau, he ākona rīpoata ahau.
Katoa mātau he wha tekau ngā ākona. I tīpakongia mātau e Christine Cole, nā wai rā ka whakahuringia tōna ingoa ki a Cole Catley. Kāti e toru tekau mātau i puta ki tēnei hui whakawhanaunga. Ko te tikanga kia hui whakawhaunga kē mātau i te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau, engari ko taua kōrero anō hoki i hē katoa ngā hiahia nā runga i te kaha o te māuiui urutā.
Ka hui ngā rangatira o te pahi whakarite kaupapa hui whakawhanaunga. Ko Denise-Eriksen tētehi i Kāpiti, nā wai rā te whakatau a ēnei rangatira kia tū tonu tā mātau hui whakawhanaunga.
Ka rūnanga rātau, ā, kātahi ka puta mai ngā taniwha o te ao pāpaoho. Ka whakakitea au e Kevin Milne, ā, kua tīmatangia te kaupapa nei.
Ka whakaarangia e mātau tētehi whārangi i te pae tukutuku WhatsApp, nā ka whakapoipoia au e te whānau nō Taranaki.
Nōku e ākona ai i te kuratini ka noho au hai tauira mō tētehi wiki ki te Taranaki Daily News,ka whakamanuwhiringia ahau e te whānau o Graham Skellern. Ko tēnei tangata a Skelly he tino hoa takatāpui nāku.
Ko ia taku tino hoa kōrero mai i te wā o te tau e whitu tekau moroki noa nei, ko tā māua mahi ki te Herald pea te tino take i pēnei ai māua. Kai Matapihi ia e noho ana ināianei, wheoi anō, nā tana tino pirangi ki a tae iho ahau, ka whakaritea e ia ki te kohi me te kawe i ahau ki tā mātau hui whakawhanaunga.
Ka puta mai ia i te atatū kai te ono o ngā hāora, kātahi ka peka atu māua ki te kohi i a David Boddy i Taupō. E hoa mā, kua nanakia noa te wā ki a māua ko David, e rima tekau mā rua o ngā tau te roa.
E moho hoki nei ahau ki tana whānau, wheoi anō tā māua taenga ki a ia, kua māori noa iho mātau. I ora iti nei pea tēnei āhuatanga i te WhatsApp, te hangarau o te ao hou. Tērā kai te kaha rāwekengia tēnei whārangi i ētehi tēnā i ētehi atu.
Kāore anō au ki a kite i ēnei hoa tawhito āku mō ngā tau e rima tekau, engari e noho nā mātau, rere kau ana te wairua onamata, ko ngā tino heahea ko julian O'Brien me Brian Thomas (Tommy) e tā pakaru katoa aku whēkau i te pukukata.
Pai hoki te tūtakitaki ki te whānau a Tommy, ko tana makau rangatira ko Kari tā rāua tama ko Ray me tana hoa rangatira ko Romi me tā rāua tamaiti ko Rex. Ko Pam Fleming taku hoa moe, kai E Tu Whānau ia e mahi ana. I hui iti nei māua ko Pam i ngā mārama kotahi tēkau mā waru kua pahemo i Rotorua.
He whawhe me te kāwhe te take. Ko taku taina a Roku kai te kaha mōhio ki a ia, engari auare ake a Pam ki tā māua ko Roku herenga whakapapa, nā wai rā ia ka mātau. E noho na ahau e whai whakaaro ana ki tēnei hui whakawhanaunga tēnā pea ka ninipa, tēnā pea ka hūiki, te mutunga iho, he pārekareka katoa.
Ko Mike Quaife tētehi kāore i puta, he māuiui nōna he ahakoa tēnā ka tukuna e ia tētehi pouaka waina i tana ake whenua waina i Naked Lady. Nā Judy me Chris Bailey te waina i kawe mai ka noho rāua mō tētehi wā itiiiti nā wai rā ka wehe rāua ki tā rāua kaupapa whakawhanaunga-ā-whānau ake. E noho nā ahau ka tae mai ki ahau te māramatanga, ko te nuinga o mātau i puta ki tēnei hui, kua roa e mahi ana i te ao pāoho me te whakaaro iho ko ahau pea o tēnei huinga katoa i noho noa ki Aotearoa nei. Ko ēra atu i puta ki ngā hau e whā o te ao hurihuri, mahi ai.
Ko tētehi o ngā tino kaupapa kai ngā ringaringa o David Boddy, ka pātaingia ia mō te wā e mahi nā ia mā te rangatira mā te Pirimia o Ingarangi mā Margaret Thatcher. E whitu tau ia e mahi ana māna. Hai te Pepuere a te tau hou nei ka eke ia ki te rima tekau o ngā tau ia e noho atu nā i te whenua o Ingarangi.
Kua puta hoki te rongo kōrero, kua ū marire ia ki taua whenua ōna. He ahakoa i whakarite ngā kaupapa nui, ngā kaupapa whakaharahara, ko te tino noho ko te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero me ngā hoa tawhito. Ko te pō tuatahi he pō whakangāhau, he pō whakataetae-ā-hinengaro nā Allyson Burgoyne me Julian i whakarite.
Kai reira ētehi patapātai hangareka hoki, engari me mihi ka tika atu ki a Roger King me Patsy Deverall nā reira i puta ai te ihu o tō mātau poti. Ka hī te ata o te rāhoroi, ka kōtahi mātau ki te purei maita, ara ko te kēmu rangatira a ngā pakeke, e tū ana rātau ki te papa kākāriki ki te porowhiu i ngā pōro nunui ki a pā ki te pōro mā, wheoi anō nā Skelly tēnei kaupapa i whakaara, nā ka kawea e mātau tēnei momo ki te karapū o Carrington i Carterton.
Kai reira te wāhi e hoa mā mō te kai. Nō reira he pīki mihi ki a kotou katoa. Taua pō hoki, he pō whakangāhau e rere nā ngā arero, kai te takiwā ngā kaupapa kōrero, ka puta mai a John Wishart me tana pēne kia whakangāhaua mātau, ā, ka puta hoki mai a Anne Maria Nicholson me te wāhanga iti ki a ia.
Nō te rāhoroi kua wehe te nuinga o ngā hoa, nā reira i wātea ai te nuinga o te hunga noho ki te peka atu ki Wairarapa. Nā Pete Barnett te hākari nui o te rā i tunu, he kai rorerore nui i hē katoa ai ngā hopehope.
Kātahi nā ka āta tataku hoki mai māua ko Skelly engari i hoki mai mā Heretaunga, me te pai hoki o tā māua hokitanga mai. He whakamihi nāku tēnei ki a koe kai taku hoa takatāpui. E tika ana te kōrero, he kitenga kanohi he hokinga mahara. He pukenga tangata ka puta te kōrero.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori tenei purongo
I have just had one of the greatest long weekends of my life — and I thought I was beyond being amazed.
It started early last Friday morning and wound up back home at 6pm on Monday.
Non-drinker me spent that time in a beautiful Martinborough vineyard, under clear skies and with views towards the Tararua Ranges.
The setting was ideal, quirky corrugated metal chalets dotted in the family-owned Margrain Vineyard.
But it was the people who made this weekend unforgettable.
In 1970 we were students of the Wellington Polytechnic News Journalism course. There were 40 of us chosen by Christine Cole, later Cole Catley. About 30 of us turned up at Martinborough.
We were due to celebrate our silver jubilee in 2020, but that was put off for two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Wellington organising subcommittee, which includes Australia-domiciled Denise Eriksen, held meetings along the Kāpiti Coast and was determined the reunion would go ahead.
They put their heads together and pulled out the big guns.
Television frontman Kevin Milne found me and so the journey began. We started sharing posts on a specifically set-up WhatsApp page and I was adopted as a member of the Taranaki whanau.
I thought that was apt because while at polytech I had spent a week as an intern at the Taranaki Daily News and stayed with Graham Skellern's family.
Skelly is the only member of my course with whom I had had contact since 1970, mostly because we both worked at the New Zealand Herald. The Matapihi resident and a key reunion organiser was so determined I would be there he picked me up and drove me.
The pick-up was at 6am and we collected David Boddy from his brother's house in Taupō an hour later. I hadn't seen David for 52 years and had never met his family, but I felt immediately at home with them.
The WhatsApp page had at least broken the ice and I have come to enjoy the messages.
Some people are much more active on it than the rest of us. I hadn't seen these people for 50+ years but the quips and rapid repartee, particularly from Julian O'Brien and Brian Thomas (Tommy), had me smiling and outright chuckling.
And it was no different in person. They were still trading good-natured insults and cracking jokes.
I enjoyed meeting Tommy's family, wife Kari, their son Ray and his partner Romi and their pre-schooler Rex.
My roommate for the weekend was Pam Fleming who works with families and produces E Tu Whanau magazine. I had coffee with Pam about 18 months ago in Rotorua.
She and my brother had worked together for years without knowing they had me in common.
Catching up with the class could have been awkward but it was easy. When having an informal debrief we thought it was because when we went to Wellington most of us had just come from high school and had never left home before.
There were a couple of older students including Mike Quaife who couldn't be with us at the reunion because of recent surgery but sent cases of wine from his Naked Lady vineyard.
That wine was delivered by Judy and Chris Bailey who left the reunion early to visit family.
I discovered that most of us had worked in the media and I think I was the only one who had never worked overseas.
Everyone wanted to quiz David Boddy about his experiences as press secretary to the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
He was with "Mrs T" for seven years.
David will mark 50 years in the UK in February. He is safely back in the UK after leaving Wellington on Monday morning.
Over the weekend we had organised activities but most of it was catching up.
The first night was a trivia quiz organised by Allyson Burgoyne and Julian. There were some tricky questions but thanks to Roger King and Patsy Deverall our team won.
On the Saturday Skelly, through former colleague Paul Dykes, had organised bowls at the Carrington Bowling Club in Carterton.
They turned on a scrumptious lunch which was well appreciated. Saturday night was sparkly and the talk flowed and was topped off by a performance from John Wishart and his band with a guest spot by Anne Maria Nicholson.
Many people left on the Sunday and the rest of our whanau took advantage of an activity-free day to tour the Wairarapa.
Pete Barnett did the honours on our final kaitahi, a massive barbecue at The Gatehouse.
Skelly and I drove home through Hawke's Bay. Thank you, my friend, for taking me to one of the happiest events of my life.
The Prime Minister made the pre-Budget health announcement in Botany this afternoon.
