Moana Rāhui o Aotea ~ Aotea Harbour, New Zealand Moana Rāhui o Aotea ~ Aotea Harbour, New Zealand

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  • Home
  • Support
  • Maui's Dolphin
  • Annual Poukai
  • Aotea Dedication
  • Birds of Aotea
  • Copyright
  • Foreshore and Seabed
  • Issues
  • Fresh Water Species
  • Growing Kūmara
  • How to Smoke Eel
  • How to Prepare Kookī
Aotea Harbour, New Zealand ~ photo by Davis Apiti
Pohutukawa, Aotea Harbour - photo by Davis Apiti

Aotea Aotea 
So beautiful and free 
What is it that connects you and me? 
Is it my heritage? 
Or is it the sea? 

I've seen your many faces in a storm 
And through the blistering heat 
I have felt your frost upon my feet 
And still you are so beautiful to me. 

The pohutukawas that shower your landscape 
With crimson red like a sunset. 
I've walked your hills, 
Fished your waters, 
Swam your rivers, 
And have slipped on your black sand. 

I know of a place where the flounders roam 
Of a giant, a stone lizard 
And a taniwha hole 
Where time stands still 
Where your people chant and sing their songs 
Of your mountains 
And of ancestors passed on 

Aotea Aotea 
You'll always be home to me 
No matter where I roam 
My heart yearns 
My thoughts turn 
And I'm glad to see you 
And my Uncle John ...

by Davis Apiti