Bernie Hornfeck sits with Roimata Mihinui at Te Puea Orchard.
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Click here for English translation Tekau mā tahi noa ngā tau o Bernie Hornfeck te pakeke i a ia i Ingarangi ka pāhū mai te pakanga tuarua o te ao i te tau 1939. Ka hoki ōna maumaharatanga ki tērā wā.
"He mōhio nō te kawanatanga me kaha ia ki te whāngai i te 6o miriona tangata, nā reira ka wāhia katoatia tēnei whenua i runga i te kore utu, ko ngā roherohenga ka puta mai, kai ia tāone matua, kai ia tāone pakupaku, kai ia hāpori hoki hai aha? Kia ora ai ngā tangata".
Ka tukua ngā kaipuke ki Kanata ki te whakahoki mai kai kia ora ai tātou engari e hia kē ngā mano tangata i mate atu ai i ngā waka whakatakere o ngā Tiamana e patu haerehia ana i ngā kaipuke kawe kai".
"Ka mate rātou ngā tangata i runga i ngā kaipuke ko te whakaora i a mātou te hunga kai kore te pūtake. Kua titia ngā maumaharatanga o ēnei tangata māia ki taku ngākau".
Hoake ki te tau 1949/50 kai te hakoke haere a Bernie i ngā huarahi o Ingarangi, ka tupono te whare rangatira o Niu Tīreni.
Nā kōnei ka huri tōku ao, ka tāti hoki taku hononga wairua ki te kūmara.
"Nāku te kūmara i kawe atu ki Kaingaroa me te mea kāre hoki te iwi i whakapono mai ka ora te kūmara i tēnei whenua. Ka taupokina te whenua ki te kahu kirihou mangu – ana ! ka tupu te kūmara, ka wehi katoa te iwi".
Na Carl Dibley te mana kaitiaki o Te Puea. Whakaahua / Rawinia Phillips Smith
Na te kūmara ka tūtakitaki ai tēnei kaumatua ki tōna hoa, ki a Whare, he ringa rehe nō Te Whānau-ā- Apanui me Te Whakatōhea, ā, ka taka te wā ka mōea hai makau mōna.
"Taku kitehanga atu i a ia, ka hinga katoa ngā poupou o tōku whatumanawa, he mōhio nōku koia hai hoa haere mōku. Hai tāna, ki te kaha ahau ki te whakatupu kūmara ki te Tai Rāwhiti pēnei i Kaingaroa nei, ka moea".
Kāti! Ka moe tahi rāua waihoki, ka whānau a rāua tamariki tokotoru, he tama katoa. Kua mate noa atu a Whare engari kai te noho tonu i a ia, ā wairua nei.
He ahakoa tēnei taumahatanga kai te hāpori tonu nei a Bernie e tukituki whenua ana – he ahakoa i pirau ētehi hua ka momona hoki ētehi hua ehara nōna te hē engari ko te tōrangapū ake.
Kai te momona te waerenga i Apumoana. Nā Bernie rāua ko Whare te ringa kaha kia whakaewa ai te kaupapa whakatupu kai i Apumoana nei. Kai te hetiheti tonu a Bernie i tēnei whenua ā moroki noa nei. Nō te tau 1952 ka hokona a Bernie tētehi pĪhi whenua i te rori o iles ka timataria te waihanga whare mō rāua. Nō te tau 1964 ka ea katoa ngā werawera.
Nō te tau 2017 ka pau tōna kāinga ki te kāpura, kāOre tētehi kame i ora, ka hunuku a Bernie ki ngā whare kaumatua i Apumoana ka noho mai i kōnei kia oti kau te waihanga i tōna kāinga hou.
He ahakoa ko te keke, te tiamu me te takakau te pakinga o ōna pāpāringa rānei ko te atawhai i ngā hua o te rākau me te whenua, kua riro katoa tōna ngākau i te mahanatanga o te kūmara.
Bernie Hornfeck was a boy of 11 in England when World War II broke out in 1939. He recalls the time vividly.
"The Government knew it had to feed 60 million people so made all this land available at no cost. The allotments were in every city, town and settlement to help feed the people."
Ships were sent to Canada to bring back food but thousands of lives were lost when german u boats attacked the merchant fleet.
"They lost their lives when they were sent to get food to feed us. I'll never forget that."
Fast forward to 1949/50 and Bernie is "wandering around London" when he comes across New Zealand House.
Ripe for adventure, the forestry worker is persuaded to become a "ten-pound pom" and embarks on a months-long journey to the other side of the world.
Bernie Hornfeck sits with Roimata Mihinui at Te Puea Orchard. Photo / Rawinia Phillips Smith
"I left in one year and arrived the next."
That was to signal the start of a life-long love affair with the kumara.
"I took kumara to Kaingaroa Forest but no one believed it would grow there. I used black polythene to cover the ground and nurtured a good crop, much to everyone's surprise."
And kumara introduced him to Whare, from Te Whanau A Apanui, Te Whakatohea, the woman who would become his wife.
"As soon as I saw her I knew she was the one for me.
"In 1952 she said if I could successfully grow kumara up the coast as well as I could at Kaingaroa she would marry me."
The upshot was they married and raised three boys. Whare passed away some years ago.
Bernie has been involved in community gardens around Rotorua for as long as he can remember although not all of them flourished, not because of any fault with the plantings but more the site politics.
At Apumoana Marae in Tarawera Road there is a thriving maara kai.
Bernie and Whare were instrumental in getting the current iteration of Apumoana off the ground and it still plays a big part in his life.
Bernie bought his Iles Rd section in 1952 and started building their home in 1964. It was finished in 1967.
When his home burned down in 2017 and Bernie lost everything, he moved into a kaumatua flat at Apumoana where he stayed until it was rebuilt.
Although he is partial to a nice piece of cake or scones and jam, or the vegetables he helps nurture, the kumara continues to hold a special place in his heart.
