Tungi
I awoke around 8.30 with Stuart tapping on the car window. We headed down to the river together with the large procession and managed to get a spot pretty close to the large barge with the family on it. We watched as the Maori Canoes, the Wakas, were paddled into place on the river. A call went out to any men who knew the Haka to jump onto the barge and perform it while the wakas went by. A huge crowd of men gathered and began to chant the ever famous "KA MATE": The All-Blacks Chant. The energy was incredible. Every man threw themselves straight into it. The Wakas began their procession down the river and we watched as all 9 canoes passed us. The Queen's coffin placed on the third one and flanked by two others. The Haka continued for the entire hour that it took for the Wakas to pass us without faltering or losing energy.
We then headed to the buses to head to the burial hill. We arrived and climbed up to a vantage point so we could see the arrival from the river. We saw several Maori warriors, traditionally dressed in grass skirts, face tattooes and holding wooden weapons. They began to chant and dance to welcome the coffin as it arrived on the pier and was brought to the hill. The attached ropes to the coffin to help drag it up the steep incline as several warriors crowded around to lift it above their heads. There must have been ten thousand Maoris standing on the hill and as the coffin arrived they began to chant in unison. Slapping their thighs and raising their hands. We watched as the coffin was taken to the top of the hill. We went higher for a while until we were told that the family wished to be left alone. We headed back down the hill and washed ourselves in the river to purify ourselves after being in the cemetary.
Stuart and I then headed back to the car and drove up, both of us feeling completely drained by the experience.
