Uncle Wiri's Weekend

On the first weekend in March we packed up late on Friday night to set of early on Saturday morning down to Oeo Marae for Uncle Wiri's headstone unveiling. We knew a huge 6-7 hour drive was ahead of us and all of us were happy to do it....happy to remember Uncle Wiri and spend time with his amazingly kind, welcoming, loving whānau x

Of course we couldn't drive directly past Mama's donuts without stopping in

How cool is the relaxed environment of a marae....so unique to NZ I reckon. You've gotta experience it sissys!

Semi-competitive nieces + nephews versus parents

Grandies

The local public pool in Manaia. If all of the 'Wiri' people weren't there, there would've probably been 2 other people

Love small town NZ. Cows/farms right in the middle of houses/schools/four square

Look who Dall's fell in love with! Leesie put her to sleep without even trying

Ella with Mt Taranaki in the background

Teeny tiny little Manaia Branch

I just loved teaching these little critters about the sabbath day. And the lovely lady who looks after primary (her own 2 children) had the lesson all copied, toys, paper, snacks ready...just in case visitors came. How cool is that!

We're not sure when we'll make it down to Oeo Marae again, but we're definitely keen to have a special Wiri's weekend again next Feb/March. It will be cool to get together with his special people and remember him....with karaoke and good food probably!