What a delightful day seventeen of us WINGS ladies spent at the Te Puawaitanga Marae on Sunday 8th July. Once the welcoming call and the speeches were given in the Marae, we where ushered into the dining hall where we received warm hospitality from the Marae women. At first we all got stuck in and prepared our food for the hangi. That done, we were split up into three groups to learn and participate in traditional Maori craft. ie flax weaving, Maori design painting, poi making and kawakawa balm making. We all enjoyed genuine warmth and interaction from the lovely, informative Marae women and left at the end of the armed with our newly learnt creativity. Thank you Te Puawaitanga Marae.
On Wednesday the 4th July we were treated to a belly dancing show. A very pretty young girl called Brier came out in a beautiful mauve Satin outfit with matching hair band, gold bra top and tummy belt. How she shimmed herself around the floor was quite amazing and also very graceful. The music she danced to ranged from classical to modern day. Brier choreographs all her own dances, and teaches a class once a week. She told us she has over 100 of these fab costumes. We all joined in clapping time to the music. After Brier had finished we were asked to joined in for a wee practice. A most enjoyable evening.
