Opinion: Sunday marked my 72nd birthday and the time is right to sign off.
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See below for English translation
Te Pou kaiawhā ō kāhu
He whakapae nōku i whānau rangatira au. I heke iho te murau o ngā atua ki runga ki ahau, wheoi anō he mohio hoki nōku kai te ringaringa hoki te wehi taumaha e haere ngātahi ana me tēnei mana.
I mate ohorere, i mate moata taku hoa rangatira, ka mate taku rangatira ka mate hoki te whakaaro kia whānau tamariki hoki māua. Engari kua rangatira ahau i taku iwi. E rangatira hoki nei ahau i aku potiki, otīā i a Awatea i a Mara me Turongo taku whānau nō Tainui waka.
E hari ana taku ngākau ka whakairingia e ahau taku pene i te hiku o Kāhu ki Rotorua inākuanei. Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e whitu tekau hikina ai taku pene hai wahine tuhituhi mā te nūpepa i Te Kuratini o Te Whanganui-ā-Tara.
Nō te tau, e rua mano, e rua tekau mā rua ka huihuia tātou ngā ākonga tawhito ki Huangarua, nā te māuiui urutā i tureiti ai tā tātou hui. E whakamīharo tonu ahau ki te ara kua haerehia e tēnei tamaiti ruku kapa nō te pā taunaha o Te Whakarewarewa, kai etehi taima he ara pāhekeheke engari kua tae ki ngā taumata rangatira o te ao Pākehā.
Nōku e mahi ana he kotahi anahe taku uiuinga ā mahi. Ka whakawhiwhia e ahau te mahi engari kāore au e rata ana ki te wāhi mahi nō reira ka puta au i tari. Kai te hoi taringa ngā kupu a wētehi, ā, he tamaiti pakiki ahau, he tamaiti uiui ahau engari e tika ana tēnei wairua mō ngā pou ripoata, ki wētehi he wahine ngutu kuia pea ahau engari i akingia au e taku kuia a Miria me ōku mātua, ka kaha tahuri mai rātou ki te whakahoki i aku pātai huhua.
E hoki ana ngā mahara ki ngā tau e ono tekau, he ao Pākehā kai ētehi he ao whakatoihara, he nui nō te hunga kaikiri. Kāore he wāhi mō ngā tamariki ngangahū, ūpoko hirahira pēnei i a mātou ko Arawhiti Raimona me Jimmy Schuster.
Ko mātou te karaehe tuarua nō te kura o Whaka i tōtika ki te kura tuarua. He rerekē te tikanga o ngā karaehe onamata engari ko tō mātou karaehe tētehi o ngā karaehe whakahirahira i noho ki te taumata kotahi ngāhuru paiheneti o ngā karaehe hinengaro atamai. Nā wai ka kotahi atu ahau ki te kura o ngā kōhine engari e tāingoingo kau tonu ana aku whakaaro. Tuturu he kore hiahia nōku kia noho hai nāhi ā hai kura mahita hoki, he ahakoa koia kē anahe ngā huarahi e pūare kau ana ki ahau.
Roimata Mihinui.
Ka nui hoki aku kupu whakamihi ki ngā rangatira umanga nā rātou te huarahi tuhituhi ki ahau. Ka uia au e Ian Thompson nō te Daily Post nā wai e haere tū ana aku waewae ki Te Whanganui-ā-Tara. Ka noho ahau me taku tapeha tata a Aperahama Hurihanganui me tana makau a Cindy me ā rāua tamariki. Ko John te whakapakanga o rātou ko tana tamāhine kai te kawe i ngā taipito kōrero mā te teihana pūrongo o te pō.
Koia ko Te Aniwa Hurihanganui. Ko taku mahi tuatahi he mahi tuhituhi mā te Herald o Thames, pai ki ahau taua mahi rā. I atawhaingia au e ngā niho roa o taua takiwā engari ko taku aronga matua ko ngā kōrero ā te kooti. Nā wai ka whakahaerengia e ahau te taha ki te whakatikatika i ngā pepa i Tokoroa me Putaruru, nā wai rā ka hoki mai aku waewae ki ngā waiariki me te Daily Post.
Tae te wā taku hokinga mai ki Rotorua ka uru atu ahau ki te wāhanga pouwhakatikatika āpiti. Nā te rangatira o te Daily Post nā Ray Smith etehi kupu whai mana ki ahau, hai tāna ko māua ko Ray anahe ngā tangata taketake o te Daily Post nō te mea he uri māua nō Te Whakarewarewa, tuarua he tauira hoki māua nā te kura tuatahi o Te Whakarewarewa. Ka rapua kahatia au e ngā rangatira nui o te New Zealand Herald , nā ka noho roa atu ahau.
Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau ka timatangia taku mahi mā te Herald , me te tini hoki o aku tūnga mahi, mai i te hākinakina ki etehi atu kaupapa nui. Kāore au e wehi ki aua kaupapa nā, wheoi anō rā he kaupapa pai ki ahau.Ko tetehi o ngā wāhanga rawe ki ahau ko College Herald . Ka tono atu mātou ki ngā kura kia tukuna mai e rātou ā rātou taipito kōrero.
Ko Kristin Hall tetehi o aua tamariki rangatira e kaha ana ki te kawe i ngā taipito kōrero mā te kāreti. He ahakoa he kaupapa nui i pau te tāhua pūtea, ā , ka whakamoea te kaupapa. Nō te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā ono ka hoki mai ahau ki Rotorua hai etita mā te Daily Post. Nō te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā tahi, ka hui tahi māua ko Lois Turei taku hoa tawhito nō NZME. Nā te pūtea Public Interest Journalism ka whai huruhuru ai a Kāhu Ki Rotorua.
Ka whakahaerehia e Te Rito etehi karaehe whakapakari mā ngā ākonga Māori me ngā ākonga Poronēhia, ka whiua te kupenga ki te moana uriuri. Ka puare he wāhanga ki te tā kōrero, nā ka whānau a Kāhu ki Rotorua.
Kāore aku manawa kōrero ki tēnei kaupapa whakaharahara ā tātou, he ahakoa huri ai te ūpoko ki whea, ara he kōrero nui, ara he kōrero nui. Ka nui hoki te mihi a te iwi ki ahau. Nōku e totitoti kau ana i ngā rori o te tāone, ka rere ngā kupu mihi ki aku mahi me te mea hoki kua whai take ngā reo o te waiariki.
Hai te wiki nei ka whakanuia taku huringa tau ki te whitu tekau mā rua o ngā tau.E tika ana kia whakamoea taku pene tuhituhi. Anō he whakamihi nāku ki a kotou kai aku kiriwhanaunga o Te Arawa nā kotou i pono mai ki taku ngākau me taku mana kia tiakina ā kotou kupu nui.
Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e whitu tekau nōku e kotahi ngāhuru mā whitu noa te rahi ka wehe au i tō tātou taone, ā, nō te tau e rua mano, kotahi ngāhuru mā ono ka hoki mai ahau ki te noho tuturu.
Nā Kāhu ki Rotorua i pakari ai oku herenga ki taku hapori, ki ngā hapū me ngā iwi tiketike o tātou o Ngai Te Arawa. Ka nui te mōhiotia o taku whānau e te hapori i toku taina a Watu me toku tūngāne a Roku inā rā hoki ngā mahi teitei kua oti i a rāua hai painga mō tātou katoa.
Engari kia kāua au e huna i te kōrero ko te rahi hoki o ngā mahi i kaha ketungia hai kōrerotanga mā tātou i whai huruhuru ai i aku pōtiki. Nō reira kai aku pī whakamautaringa ki a kotou, Nikora, Raukura, Aneta me Rawinia ka nui taku aroha ki a kotou tahi.
Kai te tihi o te rae te kapua māuiui nō reira e tika ana pea kia whakamoea e ahau tēnei waka o tātou. Taku waimarie hoki kia whakairia taku pene ki te pātū o te kāinga nōku e noho whakaiti nei i runga i ngā whenua mana nui. E kakapa ana taku whatumanawa. E tau.
English Translation
Sunday marked my 72nd birthday and the time is right to sign off.
Thank you Kāhu ki Rotorua it has been wonderful
I have always believed I was born under a lucky star; that the gods favoured me.
I have learned that there are prices to pay for that favouritism -- losing my life partner early and with his death the possibility of any biological children.
But I have been more than adequately compensated.
On the family side I have wonderful nieces and nephews and then there are Awatea, Mara and Turongo, my Tainui whanau. I am truly blessed to have them in my life.
Kahu Ki Rotorua is a fantastic note on which to call time on a career in newspapers that began in 1970 at Wellington Polytechnic.
In 2022 at Martinborough our class celebrated our golden jubilee, observed two years late because of Covid.
Who knew that a pa kid from Whakarewarewa, a true Whaka blonde and penny diver, could thrive in such a mainstream Pakeha institution.,
During my career I had only one job interview. I got the job, but I didn’t like the place so left within months.
I was told I was one of those kids who was always asking who, why, what, when, where -- just as good reporters should do to get the full story.
Most people would say I was nosey, but my kuia Miria encouraged me and our parents always answered my queries.
Rotorua when I was growing up in the 60s was Pakeha-centric, many would say racist.
This was no place for clever pa kids like me, Arawhiti Raimona and Jimmy Schuster.
Ours was the second class from Whaka School to go to intermediate. Classes were streamed at Rotorua Intermediate and we three scored in the top 10 per cent.
And so it was when I went to Rotorua Girls’ High School. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I left school except, I didn’t want to be a teacher or a nurse which seemed the only options open to me.
Thank goodness the careers adviser told me about journalism and after an interview with the Daily Post editor of the time, Ian Thompson, I was on my way to Wellington.
There I lived with my first cousin Aperahama Hurihanganui, his wife Cindy and their children -- Theresa, Phillip, Amarita, Irena and their potiki John, the father of current television news reporter Te Aniwa Hurihanganui. My first job was with the Timaru Herald, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was mentored and coached by old-time reporters and specialised in court reporting which equipped me well for jobs in the future.
I ran the editorial side of the papers in Tokoroa and Putaruru before coming home to Rotorua and the Daily Post.
By then I had moved into sub-editing, and I was really pleased to be home. The paper’s publisher, Ray Smith, used to say to me we were the only true Rotorua people on the Post because we both came from Whaka and went to Whaka School.
I was head-hunted by the New Zealand Herald and there began my longest stint on a newspaper. I began there in the early 1980s and even after changes in ownership continued to work on producing newspapers.
I worked as a subeditor first on the general desk then in sport and racing. Sport and racing journos are a breed apart, but I felt at home there right from the start.
One of the specialist jobs I loved at the Herald was the College Herald. We encouraged secondary school students from around the circulation area to submit stories about activities in their schools, sports events and any special interests.
Television reporter Kristin Hall was one of the first and best of those College Herald kids.
Unfortunately, publication of the College Herald ended when sponsorship contracts dried up.
I came back to Rotorua in 2016 and continued to work as a production editor out of the Daily Post. offices
About two years ago, Lois Turei, an old friend and head of Cultural Partnerships at NZME tracked me down.
I have been privileged that people wanted to share their stories with me. I left Rotorua as an 18-year-old in 1970 and returned to live permanently in 2016.
Kahu Ki Rotorua gave me the path to reconnect with my various hapu and iwi. People knew my family because my siblings, Watu and Roku, have been active in the community for years.
Much of that mantle of community service has been taken up by their children. I have loved being connected with Kahu Ki Rotorua, working closely with my nieces Nikora, Raukura, Aneta, and early in the piece Rawinia.
It has been a privilege for me to have Raimona Inia translate my copy and I have loved the purakrau he unearthed for us.
A couple of health issues have also signalled to me that it is time to go. How lucky am I to be able to finish a wonderful career on such a high.
