Eru Patuone Heperi was 12 when he was the bailer on Ngātokimatawhaorua's maiden journey. Now, at 92, he has travelled on the great waka again. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Eru Patuone Heperi was 12 when he was the bailer on Ngātokimatawhaorua's maiden journey. Now, at 92, he has travelled on the great waka again. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Exactly 80 years ago Eru Patuone Heperi was the youngest crew member when the great waka Ngātokimatawhaorua took its maiden journey across the Bay of Islands.
Yesterday, his first time back on the waka since that day in 1940, the 92-year-old was by far the oldest.
Eru, who now lives on Australia's Gold Coast, returned to the Bay of Islands this week to fulfil a dream of one last trip on Ngātokimatawhaorua.
Kaumatua Wiremu Wiremu escorts 92-year-old Eru Patuone Heperi from Ngātokimatawhaorua, 80 years after he first rode in the great waka. Photo / John Stone
Eru Patuone Heperi, 92, with his sisters Annie Gardam, left, and Billee Ututaonga, the three remaining siblings of a family of 13. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Eru's father, Pita Te Hoe Heperi, felled the kauri in Puketi Forest, organised the bullock teams to drag the logs out of the bush, and was one of two master carvers who spent two years creating the 37.5m canoe at Kerikeri.
The completed waka was launched at Waipapa Landing just in time for the Treaty's centennial commemorations in 1940.
The crew needed a bailer for the maiden voyage to Waitangi so the 12-year-old Eru was given the job.
''But my bucket never got wet. It was a brand new waka on its maiden journey and there was no need to bail,'' he said.
''I remember the day well. It was a beautiful day. Lots of boats followed us. I just admired the views and enjoyed the trip.''
Eru Patuone Heperi, 92, is helped onto the great waka Ngātokimatawhaorua while kaihautu (captain) Joe Conrad looks on. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Despite having a father and grandfather who were deeply involved in kaupapa waka, Eru's life took him on a different course.
The approach of the great waka's 80th birthday, however, re-awakened a desire to ride in Ngātokimatawhaorua.
The family booked flights and a motel a year ago; since then one of his sisters and his wife have been looking after him carefully to make sure he made it.
Early yesterday a pair of burly kaihoe (paddlers) carried him out to Ngātokimatawhaorua as it was blessed below Haruru Falls along with the rest of the waka fleet.
The waka were then paddled down Waitangi River, under the bridge and around the bay before landing at Tii Beach, where a crowd of almost 2000 had gathered to witness one of Waitangi Day's great spectacles.
Eru was then escorted to shore with great ceremony and a haka was performed in his honour.
"It was absolutely what I dreamed of," an emotional Eru said afterwards.
Eru Patuone Heperi, now 92, was 12 when he was the bailer on Ngātokimatawhaorua's maiden journey. Photo / Peter de Graaf
''My father and my grandfather were both kaihautu (captains). I was the youngest and now I was the oldest, and I'm the only one who was on the waka in 1940 who's still alive.
"I was blessed beyond reason. It couldn't have been better."
Eru was accompanied on his bucket-list trip back to the Bay of Islands by whānau from around New Zealand and Australia, including his two other remaining siblings of 13 who grew up at Waihou Valley, near Ōkaihau.
He also paid a visit to the waka camp at Haruru Falls where about 500 paddlers spent five days preparing for Waitangi Day. There, while he was talking to some of the kaihoe, his younger relatives heard him speak fluent Māori for the first time.
