Ka mihi aroha

Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy to all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating birthdays this month.

Waitangi Day 2015

The next Waitangi Day celebration in the south is to be held at Te Rau Aroha Marae on 6 February 2015. Next year will mark 175 years since the signing of the Treaty. Please enter this date into your calendars. We would love to see you there. [Read more…]

Ka mihi aroha

To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

Ruapuke Island Group mātaitai

A hui of interested Ruapuke Island landowners and whānau regarding a proposed mātaitai is planned for Saturday, 4 October at Te Rau Aroha Marae, Bluff. (Time still to be confirmed).The kōrero is to assess the feasibility of a mātaitai around the Ruapuke Island group. How this kaupapa is to proceed will be decided by the kōrero at the hui. [Read more…]

Ka mihi aroha

To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Poroporoakī for John Marshall

It is with great sadness and regret we farewell big John Marshall our right hand man in the kitchen, and our mate.

John took it upon himself to take care of a good deal of the big jobs in the kitchen; mincing pāua, shelling crayfish and opening oysters. If he wasn’t processing seafood he was elbow-deep in the pot sink. There was nothing we needed at a moment’s notice that John didn’t have at home. For instance, on one occasion when we were short of space in the kai cooker he disappeared out the door and returned with a homemade model fashioned from a keg which worked wonderfully well. [Read more…]

Ngā mate

Ka mihi aroha – the whānau of Te Rūnanga o Awarua would like to extend our condolences and sympathies to the Wixon whānau on the sudden passing away of John Francis Wixon on Poutama, his much loved Muttonbird Island, on 12 May.

Ui mai koe ki ahau, ‘He aha te mea nui o te ao?’ Māku e kī atu. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
If you were to ask me,‘What is the most important thing in the world?’ I would tell you. It is people, it is people, it is people. [Read more…]

Ka mihi aroha

To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time, Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

A right royal ride

On a sunny April day in Queenstown, a number of Ngāi Tahu rangatahi had the opportunity to meet the visiting royals, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. [Read more…]

Ngā mate

Ka mihi aroha. To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time, Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

ANZAC Day remembrance

They shall grow not old, as we that are left old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them. [Read more…]

Kā mihi aroha

To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

Whekiponga – Te ara tū heke

On behalf of the whānau at Te Rau Aroha Marae and Te Rūnanga o Awarua, we would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation for the sculpture Whekiponga – Te ara tū heke, generously given by Allen Harnett.

It is nestled on the embankment below Te Rourou Whakatipuranga Early Childhood Centre at the back of the marae, overlooking the kitchen. Allen said the sculpture represents hope, aroha and inner peace. [Read more…]

Ngā mate

Kā mihi aroha. To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

Congratulations

Belated congratulations to Thomas Aerepo-Morgan, who came away with the Newman Trophy, for achieving first place in te reo Māori in the senior school and the Pukenga Kaneke Trophy, for most motivated student at Te Wharekura o Arowhenua.
This is a testament to the hard work and positive attitude Thomas has put into immersing himself in te reo, as he has only been attending the Kura Kaupapa for two years. Last year he participated in the local regional Manu Kōrero at the senior Māori level for the first time and came second. [Read more…]

He mihi aroha

To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

Annual general meeting highlights

Our early childhood centre, Te Rourou Whakatipuranga o Awarua, will be looking at expansion in the future. This is due in part to demand and government policy advocating all pre-schoolers of beneficiaries need to be enrolled in early childhood training.
Currently the centre is licensed for 37 full-time placements, but it has 54 children registered. Attendance is rostered so that the centre’s cap is not breached and a further nine children are on the waiting list. [Read more…]

Kā mihi aroha

To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time, Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

Waituna Lagoon signing

On 8 August our rūnanga hosted the official signing of the Waituna Partners’ Group Terms of Reference at Te Rau Aroha Marae. Ngāi Tahu is one of a number of agencies and organisations with management and statutory responsibilities for Waituna Lagoon and its catchment.

In 2012 the Department of Conservation, Environment Southland (ES), Ngāi Tahu and Southland District Council (SDC) started discussing the idea of working together more collaboratively and establishing a formal, coordinated structure to support this. This led to the formation of the Waituna Partners’ Group and creation of a formal Terms of Reference, which records the relationship between those parties (‘the Partners’) with a statutory role in the management of Waituna Lagoon and catchment, namely DOC, ES, Ngāi Tahu and SDC. [Read more…]

Kā mihi aroha

To all our whānau suffering the loss of loved ones at this time, Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.

Congratulations

Our congratulations go to Aaron Leith, an active member of Awarua Rūnanga, who has been successful in securing a scholarship to attend the First Nations’ Futures Programme at Stanford University in California between 19 October and 2 November 2013. [Read more…]

Ka mihi aroha

To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.

Rā whānau

Happy birthday to all those who are celebrating their birthday this month.

Ngāi Tahu Reo Awards

Congratulations to Bubba Thompson a recipient of this year’s Te Pā Whakawairua – Kāi Tahu Papatipu Marae Reo Champion Award – a recognition for his reo initiatives and development within the environments of Te Rūnanga o Awarua and Te Rau Aroha Marae. Ka mau te wehi. [Read more…]

Pāua reseeding

On 17 and 18 April, a small whānau group from Awarua Rūnanga reseeded 120,000 captive-bred juvenile pāua in Bluff Harbour from Morrison’s Beach, and in the Waikawa/Tumu Toka Mātaitai reserve on the Catlins coast.

It was great to give something back to Tangaroa. The kaupapa for the week here in the south had been all about pāua and what a great note to finish the week off on. Everyone involved learnt a lot and valued the experience. [Read more…]

Fully qualified nurse

Congratulations Nicholas (Nick) James Allfrey who became a fully qualified nurse in December. Nick left school at the age of 16 and worked for two-years. He was happy with what he was doing but wanted a career, and asked us if it would be ok if he went back to study and tried to get a nursing degree, we said, go for it. [Read more…]

Awarua rūnanga meeting

Te Rūnanga o Awarua monthly rūnanga meeting will be held at Te Rau Aroha Marae on Wednesday 7 November, 5.30pm.

Awarua Synergy – Solar PV Electricity Systems

Awarua rūnanga – owned firm Awarua Synergy is now offering more ways for Southland households to save on their electricity power bills. Formed out of the Bluff Healthy Homes Insulation project, and currently delivering the Southland Warm Homes Trust project, Awarua Synergy has established itself as an insulation expert, transforming hundreds of homes into warmer, drier and healthier environments. [Read more…]

Tiny Metzger – 80th Birthday

On Sunday 2 September, one of our renowned and much loved Bluff kaumātua, Tiny Metzger, celebrated his 80th birthday with an informal lunch at Te Rau Aroha.
Tiny is the eldest of two children born to Nicholas ‘The Fox’ Metzger and his wife Mouru/Caroline (née Haberfield). [Read more…]