Waitangi Day

Semalam merupakan Waitangi Day kat sini ..suatu ketika dulu it is also known as New Zealand Day ..ia merupakan hari yang mana perjanjian dibuat di antara orang Maori dan Pakeha orang Eropah) yang menandakan NZ granted as part of the british empire (kata wikipedia) ..that was in 1840 ...kira it marks the start of british/pakeha settlement di negara ini ..so, it is a big deal le ...

this is my second waitangi day kat sini ..last year i did not go out coz i vaguely recalled it was raining ...but this year, I and Sue plan nak tengok le the ritual semua tu ..one of the event is the launching of the waka (canoe perang Maori) ...dengan semangat ya kitorang meet up in town at 9.45am coz the ceremony starts at 10am at Frank Kitts Park Lagoon ....

the two waka - yang panjang tu is a brand new waka ...kat sebelah tu dah lama ..they keep adding new waka apparently ..

weather was so nice, hot and sunny ...siap pakai sun block coz too hot after that ..but since tepi lagoon kan, maka ada le angin sepoi sepoi ...Sue and I sampai just nice ..we got a bench which is opposite from the waka itself ...so, sampai2 ingat nak makan ..gi le stalls yang jual makanan kat situ ..but org tu cakap takleh jual lagi ..coz they can only sell after the prayer started :-) terkejut gak ..never encountered such scenario before ...

the maori leader memulakan his prayer ritual ...

pas the ritual tu, the group of rowers mengambil tempat masing masing ....the paddle yang dorang gunakan have different shape than the usual canoe paddle ...sebab katanya paddle nie bukan sahaja untuk mendayungkan canoe, but also used as weapon in war ....

the rower mengambil tempat ..after some ritual and war cry and prayer before that

perempuan yang baju itam between the waka tu started to do her chanting ...abis dia chant baru the waka was launched ...and when she chanted, meremang bulu roma ...her voice is so haunting

and off they went ......

they then went to row till Evans Bay etc kata nya before they came back and do more ritual ...aku and sue malas nak tunggu dah masa tu coz we both were hungry ..and shu's tennis captain datang join us ...so we left for Rebel Sport - coz they want to get tennis balls ...sebab Waitangi Day Sales hehehe ...and then kitorang gi makan ....captain insist nak belanja lunch ...tentu le akak tak menolak kan??? lama gak we all lepak at that Cambodian Resturant ..coz they are waiting for their tennis practice time ..i ended up tumpang his car to the court ...so aku melepak le kat court sekejap ...somehow now they are persuading me to join their group untuk practice hahaha ..i said i have not played in 15 years ...baru start balik last week ...tak tau macam mana nanti ...aku enjoy tennis masa at school dulu ..but have stop completely ...so tengok lah how ..coz Captain and Sue are pretty persuasive ...and my opismate pun insist nak join sekali ....

aku tak lepak lama situ ...coz we planned to go out for movie under the star event ..sue soh aku rest while she played ...she knows i was asthmatic the day before ..so i went back ...balik ...rest and tido ...for two hours before she came to my place pas abis tennis ...

view otw back to my flat from the tennis court ...an awesome view kan???

so petang tu we went to the town square ...utk the movie under the star event ..org ramai gak ..coz the whole day they have been having concert there ..we were lucky to get a place ..and a sunny place plak tu ..and then Ms. S sampai bawak tikar for us to sit on .....dah settle tu baru kami gi beli makanan ..hehehe tak best le kan tengok movie kalau tak makan hehehehe ....got chilean bread yang dimakan with salsa ...yumm! and pumpkin fried bread...chips ..chocolate ...and roti rolls ...and indian sweets ..pistaschio cake and sugary dessert ...melampau kan makan cam tu?? hehehe

 masa nie org sebelah kitorang dah balik...so our view memang clear ..pastu ada le org dtg and filled that space 

  

Movie yang kami tengok was Whale Rider ...an NZ film yang banyak nominated for Oscar ..released 2002 ..aku tak penah tengok lagi ,,it is a powerful and moving movie ...and very much NZ  element in it ..esp addressing how the Maori practices are ...sedih tau tengok ..nasib aku tak nangis hahaha nearly ....nasib can tahan ...but towards the end it was quite cold ...berangin ...aku siap pakai 4 lapis baju masa tu ...tank top..tee ...cardy and jacket hahaha ...over kan??? and it was supposed to be summer :-)

sisa makanan barbarian

balik2 tu we all beku ...so no more jalan2 ..terus balik rumah masing2 ....it was an eventful day ..i get to see some culture ..i get to catch up with friends ..i get to meet new people ..and berjoli ...so it was good ...