A HOLIDAY STORY Ehara tenei i te whaikorero ko o tatou mate, engari i runga i tau kawa i ta te Maori, te taea te whakatahi kau i te parekura ki Tangiwai. Kua ohakitia mai e nga koroua: “Ki te wareware tatou ki te tangi i o tatou mate, na, ka poto atu to tatou Maoritanga ki te pouriuri, ki te potangotango.” Haere te Wai. Kati kia koutou e hine ma. “Ka tirotiro i te Onetapu, Ka raana tonu atu ki … Taitokerau, Na ki Waitangi …” Kua tae ra ahau ki Waitangi rongonui, ki te marae tapu o te motu, ki te wahi i kite ano ai ahau i te Kuini. He kitenga tuarua tenei. I te wa o tona tuaititanga ka tae au ki Ingarangi. I taua wa kaore ano te wahine nei kia whakangaua ki te paepae korero ona tipuna, na, kaore ano hoki ia kia moe tane. Engari i tenei ra, te 28 o Tihema, rima tekau ma toru te tau, na kua paheke, kua karaunatia ia e te Atua, kua whiwhi hoa mona, a, kua puta he uri. Ko tenei ra te tino karauna kei runga i tona pane. Na tona aroha ki tona hoa, katahi ka paiherea to raua aroha ki a raua tamariki putiki pai ana ta raua here. Te taea te utu o tenei aroha ki nga koura me nga taimana, me etahi atu kohatuutu-nui o te karauna i hoatu mona i te ra o tona koroneihana. I wahine to tatou Kuini. No tona tukunga ki raro i tona waka i Waitangi, i riro na nga kuia me nga whaea i powhiri te karanga tuatahi ki a ia. No tona haerenga mai i waenganui i te puni wahine e tangi atu ra ki a ia, nana, katahi ano ka tino kitea atu tona ahua, ano ra, he kotuku. Tau ana ki nga korero mo Te Aohuruhuru o nehera, “Ko tona kiri karengo kau ana, Ko te kanohi ano he rangi raumati paruhi kau ana, Ko tona uma e ka whakaea, ano he hone moana aio i te waru e ukura ana hoki i te toanga o te ra, Ka rite ki te kiri o tua-wahine.” Te wahine ataahua. Nuku atu tona rite i a Hine moa. Nuku atu hoki pea i a Mahinarangi, i a Whakaotirangi, i a Papawharanui. Engari pea a Rongomaipapa. Ko te tukemata tenei o Kahungunu, he tukemata e whakatauakitia nuitia ana mo te putiputi pai kanohi. Until the outer leaves have died and withered.” Alas, my blood, my tears, what a waste of precious lives. “Like the fall of the Maruiwi, As into Te Reinga they sank, Ruapehu's outburst was unchained, And life itself fled from this world.” This is not an oration to our dead, but in accordance with Maori tradition it would be improper to by-pass without acknowledgement the Tangiwai tragedy. Our elders have already said: Should we ever abandon the custom of weeping for our dead, Then our Maoritanga would pass from this world of light, Into darkness and oblivion. Let my patere continue its rhythm. Farewell, e hine ma, haere ra! “Looking about me at Onetapu, I hasten to the northern seas, Yes, to Waitangi ……” I have now come to Waitangi of world renown to New Zealand's sacred marae, to the place where I again saw the Queen. This was a second meeting. In her early youth I went to England. At the time, this young lady of Royal birth was a Princess, and she had not received the traditional kingship training of her illustrious forebears, and indeed, she was yet unmarried. Now, on the 23rd December, 1953, she was sovereign of mature years, crowned by the gracious will of her people and her God, blessed with a husband-friend, and mother of a son and daughter. This is a greater chaplet than the golden one placed upon her head. Her love for her husband has been sealed by the gift of their two children, and a happy family circle has been completed. The crown of gold, studded with diamonds, and other rare stones of priceless value, that was given to her on the day of her Coronation, is not more precious than this bond of family love and kinship. Our Queen is a woman. As she alighted from her car at Waitangi, it was a double-row of Maori women dressed in black, who danced the first powhiri of welcome to her. It was then, as she approached between the rows of women whose voices were raised in the Maori karanga, that we beheld her, fair and graceful, like the white heron of single flight. The pean for Te