Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana departed from Ratana Pā this morning, with a full entourage of performers and support crew ready for Te Matatini Herenga Waka, Herenga Tāngata.
Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana is the premier group of the Aotea region and has competed at every Te Matatini festival since 2007. Its bracket is dedicated to the late president of the Ratana Church, Harerangi Meihana, who died in May last year.
"We are taking the spirit of those we have lost to Auckland to Te Matatini. It's also an account of what happened at his funeral and so a fitting tribute from the people to him," Mariu Nepia says.
But getting to Te Matatini this year hasn't been an easy feat, with hundreds of hours of practice and months of preparation to get to this point, which has been taxing, and that's not including the cost.
"We approached local business for sponsorship to go towards our trip so we were very lucky in that regard," Kamaka Manuel says. "The total cost for our trip, in years gone by it's never been as much but for this year the cost is well over $100,000."
Just under two days to go!
Mud 'just so thick'
Te Aniwa Huata is one of the newest members of the group and comes from the small town of Wairoa, where she and her family had to bunker down during Cyclone Gabrielle.
"It's hard for us, they're stuck in Wairoa, no way in or out. It wasn't until we went for a ride that we saw that it was quite bad. The mud was just so thick. All the houses are pretty much gone," she says.
"We are really excited, and I feel a lot of excitement coming from all our members, especially from our newest members. It's great to hear them talking about what they are hoping to achieve on stage. We really amped to get going," Manuel says.
At the conclusion of this year's event, Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana will then be excited to be a part of hosting the Te Matatini festival 2025 in the Aotea region.