"Green Maori Green" Party maintaining their proportionate share of votes even though there was a swing to the centre right. Colin Craig's Conservatives stranded in a political cul de sac.
Te Ururoa Flavell the only Maori Party member left from the original five, although Marama (fingers crossed) Fox will be hoping to join him.
Act getting one seat but getting fewer party votes than the Aotearoa Cannabis Party.
United Future also sneaking in on another political deal.
And, of course, National winning handsomely and able to govern alone if it wants to, which was a surprise to the Nats and against their own predictions, but indicating that they will work with their previous partners including the Maori Party.
So there are nga piki me nga heke, ups and downsides, for Ngati Kahungunu and Maoridom as a whole.
Iwi and hapu Treaty of Waitangi claimant groups will be breathing a sigh of relief that there will be a National-led Government hence no hiccups or delays in achieving full settlements within the next three years as Chris Finlayson has been determined to do.
There is fear though among the poorer communities of Kahungunu that National will accelerate its attack on the needy to feed the greedy.
With Labour taking six of the seven Maori seats and sitting in Opposition, there is the added fear that Te Ururoa will be impotent to stop a National-led freight train if he gets invited in, especially around Whanau Ora and other such kaupapa, let alone being a default voice for the poor and forgotten communities in Hone's absence.
There will be more Ngati Kahungunu MPs in the House despite the loss of Dr Pita Sharples and his ministerial role. Meka Whaitiri for one but also Marama Fox if she squeezes in, Ron Mark for NZ First, Metiria Turei for the Greens, Rino Tirikatene for Labour along with Kelvin Davis who has a connection to Ruahapia Marae.
Nuk Korako for National is of Takitimu and no stranger to Ngati Kahungunu travellers.
And a side thought for Stuart Nash who sidelined his party policy in favour of Napier's continued sovereignty against a tide of amalgamations and whose win has a resonance in many Maori communities, particularly Wairoa.
The demise of Mana and the serious reduction in the Maori Party's numbers comes down to two issues. Firstly the leadership upheaval and power struggle within the Maori Party forcing Pita to retire earlier than he intended caused huge wounds and left deep scars that never healed, and the continued sniping between Mana and the Maori Parties demonstrated a disappointing immaturity at this level.
Kim Dotcom's internet intervention made things even more scary and bizarre and left some of the Tai Tokerau whanau angry and retributive.
The Internet Party will disappear into the cybervoid.
So with a solid Labour effort in the Maori electorates and a fresh wave of candidates Maori voters opted for the conservative and safety first with a rush back to the Labour mothership, which saved Cunliffe's political ferry from sinking altogether. Maori will have much more force in the Labour Party as a result.
The Ikaroa-Rawhiti candidate campaign by all those standing has been fiercely competitive but full of fun and humour as well, with all candidates firing missiles at one another couched in whanaungatanga and the promise to work together post-election. I am sure this will happen particularly if this electorate succeeds in getting two candidates in Meka for sure and maybe Marama Fox.
Te Hamua Nikora for Mana polled second with Marama Fox for the Maori Party then Henare Kani for the Greens, followed by Cathryn Eden as an independent. The manner in which they showed one another respect under testing situations reflected on their calibre and was appreciated by supporters from all sides.
There will have to be reworking and rebuilding in the Mana and Maori Party camps and the obvious thing to do would be to reunite as the split votes would have pushed Labour backwards, but this seems a bridge too far at the moment.
All in all it's been an exciting day with the portents from Woodville unfolding with euphoric expressions giving off heat and energy by the victors with the vanquished sucking on fresh ice-cold political gashes.
It surely demonstrates the frailty in the Maori electorates - one nervous click to the right by the Maori Party and a late swerve to the far left by Mana left a gaping hole in the middle for a Labour tractor to drive through. And it did!
• Ngahiwi Tomoana is the chairman of Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated.
