From left, back row: Anna Lawton, Huia Upward-Simeon, 15, Ida Morgan, Taylor Barclay, 15. Front row: Sophie Lawton, 8, Amber Dayberg, 15, Pipi the dog, and Anker Dayberg. Ratana Celebrations were a time for seeing family, Mr Dayberg said.. Photo/Bevan Conley
From left, back row: Anna Lawton, Huia Upward-Simeon, 15, Ida Morgan, Taylor Barclay, 15. Front row: Sophie Lawton, 8, Amber Dayberg, 15, Pipi the dog, and Anker Dayberg. Ratana Celebrations were a time for seeing family, Mr Dayberg said.. Photo/Bevan Conley
Birthday celebrations for the prophet TW Ratana are not just for the politicians, reports Melissa Wishart
Anker Dayberg takes his old 1950 Bedford school bus-turned campervan out every summer for a holiday, and every year without fail he comes to the Ratana celebrations.
He's 53 years old, and his parents brought him to Ratana, near Wanganui, when he was a baby. For Mr Dayberg it's now tradition to come along, although he's not there for the politics, but rather to see family.
The Gisborne man said "I don't speak te reo and I don't know the full story behind the celebration, but each year it pulls me in."
Mr Dayberg travels down while his first cousin's family come from South Auckland. They meet in Palmerston North and head to Ratana together.
The yearly reunion here is a special time for Mr Dayberg, who said the only other time he sees his relatives is at a tangi. The Ratana celebrations, he said, allowed them to spend time together on a "positive note".
His partner, Anna Lawton, who had been with him for five years, had her own bus, but Mr Dayberg said it was "too perfect".
He said his bus had character.
"This one rumbles and graunches. Once you arrive you're totally exhausted and it's all worth it."
He'd had the bus for around eight years now. It was decked out with a double bed, bunks for the children, and a little gas oven.
The bus, he said, had been to all corners of the North Island. They hoped to travel the South Island with it too at some point.
Their dog Pipi has been coming on these trips for four years now, and "knew the rules". She was free to wander Ratana while the celebrations were on.
Also wandering Ratana was 16-year-old Joshua Cornelious Boer from Whangarei, who had never been to the celebrations before but wanted to tick something off his bucket list - meeting the Prime Minister.
Joshua approached the Chronicle saying he hadn't had an interesting conversation in "at least 10 minutes", before saying he would love to get John Key's autograph and hinting that he didn't have a pen or paper.
Joshua Boer, 16, and prime minister John Key's silhouette. Joshua was able to tick meeting the Prime Minister off his list. Photo/Bevan Conley
Chaeli Manuel, 14, was born and bred in the area, and was part of the Tuatoru band playing for the visiting politicians.
She'd been in the band since she was 9 - but playing for the band was in her blood. Her great grandfather was one of the founders of the band, she said.
The best part about playing was meeting all the new recruits, Chaeli said. About 20 new people would join each year.
One of the new recruits was Pita Phillips, also 14, who had only been playing for about five months.
Both Pita and Chaeli played the trumpet for the band, but they said they each knew how to play around 20 instruments.
