Much more than a DIY job

Whatuwhiwhi's Haititaimarangai Marae was transformed beyond recognition last week, courtesy of the MTV programme Marae DIY.

The marae was the epicentre of a massive community effort as up to 150 people toiled daily from dawn until as late as 2am to complete the transformation in just four days, one of them a public holiday.

The TV series, made by Screentime for Maori Television, has done some big jobs over the last nine years, but this was reportedly its most ambitious make-over yet.

Project co-ordinator Shane Horan, co-owner of timber mills in Whangarei and Waipapa, said whanau had travelled from as far as Wellington, Christchurch and Australia to pitch in, joined by suppliers, sponsors, DoC staff and trades apprentices from the Linton Army camp near Palmerston North.

The wharenui, which had been "in a bad way," had been stripped back almost to its framing and rebuilt, with a covered entrance added. The wharekai had been re-roofed and extended with outdoor eating and food preparation areas.

The surroundings had also been transformed with a huge amount of landscaping, rock walls and planting.

"Initially we thought this was a DIY project for our marae, but now we actually think it was a tool to bring everybody home, to unite whanau who hadn't seen each other for a long time. We've all met close relations we'd never seen before," Mr Horan said, while producer Nix Jaques said Haititaimarangai had set a new benchmark.

"Every make-over is extreme, but this is the most extreme one yet. It's not just renovations, it's construction," she said.

The real kaupapa of the show, however, was to bring whanau home to reconnect with their marae, and their skills and hard work made the make-overs possible. Whatuwhiwhi had been able to take on such a big project because of the strength of the community and Mr Horan.

The show was also a chance to showcase each marae and its characters, she added.

The finished product was revealed on Saturday afternoon to kuia who had been sent off for a make-over and a bit of pampering of their own.

Ngati Kahu kaumatua Alan Hetaraka said his grandparents' home had served as the marae and local place of worship until a church was built in 1948. A hall from a closed-down school was moved on to the marae site in 1951-52. An ablution block and a wharekai were added in the 1980s following a fundraising campaign by whanau in Australia.

While the marae's history is relatively short, nearby Patia Bay was the scene of some of the earliest interactions between Maori and Europeans. Captain James Cook sailed past in 1769, his log book comment "Doubtless a bay" giving the area its modern name, but eight days later the French explorer de Surville, with a sick and starving crew, anchored off the beach.

Mr Hetaraka said the local chief, Ranginui, saved the Frenchmen with food and supplies. They were about to continue their voyage when a storm blew up, damaging the ship and snapping two of its three anchor ropes. One of the anchors is now in the Far North Regional Museum at Te Ahu in Kaitaia.

Their ship repaired, the Frenchmen kidnapped Ranginui and set sail for South America. The chief died under way, and de Surville himself died when the ship ran into trouble off the coast of Peru.

A plaque near the marae commemorates de Surville's visit. It has sparked controversy both for its location and for neglecting to mention the fate of Ranginui.