Sunday, January 09, 2011

Onuku

I used all my Camino-skills to rise from my tent in the camping ground quietly yet early, and was on the road towards Onuku, with its marae and church, before 7.30am. Onuku lies about 5km from Akaroa, and it was set aside as a Maori reserve in 1856, following the confiscation of much of the land around Akaroa harbour from Maori.

This is the marae building at Onuku. As a visitor, I would have needed to be invited onto the marae to go any closer: this photo was taken from the gate.


Just past the marae, you come to this historic church, opened in 1878 as a non-denominational place of worship.
 This is part of a carving that stands outside on the lawn, outside the church doors.

This simple but beautifully carved altar sits inside the church, and an inscription at its base says it was presented by Sir Heaton Rhodes in 1940. On top of it sat a thank you gift from some children to the marae- a card with some shells.

The windows of the church gave views to the harbour outdoors.

And the morning sunlight came in through the windows to cast gentle light over the pews.

And just to finish, a more mundane theme... On the shore side of the road stood this shed- and you might have noticed I tend to take photos of some of these old buildings.


And to end this post: a close-up of the door lock.

9 comments:

  1. You could enter the marae by pretending your were a dumb Australian tourist, just like we did. Well, we didn't pretend, we just were.

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  2. Mmmm but I am a Kiwi and I do know the rules ;-)

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  3. What is a marae? I'm a dumb American!

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  4. And I'm a dumb South African - yeah, what is a marae?

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  5. Ooops sorry- didn't think about my international visitors properly! Here is a webpage that describes what a marae is. http://history-nz.org/maori5.html

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  6. It is interesting how Aboriginal cultures and traditions are similar from one continent to another. And, Margaret, the french version of the texts is very good! I am learning more and more about your country!

    Michèle

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  7. Oh well Michèle, maybe you won't be travelling in 2011, but who knows what 2012 will bring? Maybe a little voyage further south?!

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  8. I also like the author, Robbie Whitmore. She has some interesting stuff on her website.

    Michèle

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  9. And I just read her "About Me" page properly Michèle, and discovered she has been living in France for a while! (Which probably explains why there is such a good French translation of her pages!)

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