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April 2 - Brook - Today we went to Waiheke Island to visit the Rotary Club of Waiheke. There we were met by Greg and Trevor who were our lovely hosts for the day. First we were taken to a Maori ceremonial place called the Marae of Piritahi. Here a welcome ceremony called a powhiri was performed with us. It was a very touching and wonderful experience. It is the custom of the Maori that women do not speak in the Marae. However, Brenda was given the honour of speaking in Yupik and gave her welcome address. They felt it was such an important thing to have the Yupik native language spoken in the Marae that the fact that Brenda was a women was overlooked for this special occasion. Next we toured the primary health clinic that was associated with this Marae. Many of the functions and programs were very similar to a Yukon Community Health Centre. The only difference was there was more focus on providing holistic care to their patients.
Then it was off a local vineyard called Wild on Waiheke for lunch. It was a beautiful location surrounded by rows and rows of lush grapes just waiting for harvest. It would be wonderful if the Yukon could have such a bountiful harvest,...... in something besides mosquitoes!
Next our fearless leaders took us to the music museum and the local art gallery. Then it was off for a walk on one of the many lovely beaches. We walked the length of Onetangi Beach and many of us collected some shells to take home to our families. At the end of the beach our drivers were waiting at a cafe, oh what hardship. We all had to settle in and join them for a drink!
Our evening was spent at the Waiheke Island Rotary club meeting. It was a well attended meeting as the Rotary club of Auckland East had 20 members join the meeting. After the meeting we raced back to the ferry and chatted some more with the Auckland East group as we headed back to "the mainland". Exhausted from a busy day I quickly fell fast asleep.
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