“Tena i hikitia, Tukua totoia, Tena i akina, Ki te wai o Waikato, Au, au, aue ha!” Ha, ka umere te tangata. “Enei waka … hei Tere waka … hei, Tai ki tai. hei Hikihikitia … hei, Hapahapainga. hei, Takatakahia … hei!” He powhiri parekareka tenei. Na te Maori katoa nga whakahaere atu i te waharoa o te pa, i iri ai ta Tainui mihi: “Haere mai ki Turangawaewae” tae noa ki te parakiri ki te turanga o Mahinarangi raua ko Turongo, heke atu ki te awa ki nga waka taua me ta ratou maioha whakamoemiti. Tekau ma waru meneti te Kuini ki Turangawaewae. He toru noaiho te tikanga. Na o mana Waikato-taniwha-rau i ngawari atu ai te Kawanatanga. Nou anake te marae i takahia e Te Kuini, ka whakapau na koe ki te whakanui i a ia. Ko te rite o tou marae i taua ra, he kaokao tamahine. Oho mai ana te kupu a Te Wera i ki ra ia, ki tetahi marae ano o te motu: “Me he pai wahine koe Motutawa, penei e whai ake koe i muri i au.” Me pera te pepeha mou e Turangawaewae. Horahia ana e koe ki te putiputi, ki te rau o te tapuae-kahu, ki te porera whakairo te ara ki a Mahinarangi hei takahanga mo nga tapuwae tapu o to manuhiri tuarangi. Nau i huhuti toitu mai i te wao-nui-a-Tane te mahi na te nikau, hei whakamarumaru i te huanui mo Erihapeti. Na enei mea whakapaipai katoa, ka auroa te mawehetanga atu o Te Kuini i tou taha. I konei hoki ka rikarika te Tiuka kia tomo ia ki roto o Mahinarangi. Kua eke ke te haora, ara, te meneti hei tahutitanga atu mo raua, kati, ka kite atu ahau i a ia e ruru ana i tona mahunga, ka tohu ki o whare-whakairo e tu atu ra. Na tetahi o rangatira, na te Rotohiko i mea atu: “Hoake tatou ki te whare.” Maranga ana tou Maoritanga i tena tikanga, tae atu ana ki nga whetu o te rangi. Kua tomokia a Mahinarangi e Te Kuini. Nau, i kona, raua i whangai ki a Ruatepupuke. I kite ai raua i “te piko whakairo, i whakakokia iho, i patupatua iho, ki te whao a Mataiti.” He tangata matau te Tiuka, nana, i titiro, ae, ko enei nga taonga nunui a o tatou koroua. Ka tomo atu raua ka tutataki a-wairua ki a Te Puea, ki nga Kingi o te iwi Maori, ki a Turongo, ki a Mahinarangi, ki nga tangata o nga waka e whitu. Engari korua, i tutataki a-tinana, hariru ana o korua ringaringa, waiho ra kia tutataki tuarua korua, na ka hongi ai, kia tau ai ki te tino kotahitanga i ohakitia mai i te kupu ra: “Ko te ihu to mai o te po.” Kua nui te iwi Maori i a koe. Kua tutuki ki Down and drag, Now strike, The waters of the Waikato, Ha! ha! aue ha! The flotilla shouts, These are the canoes … Ha! They float … they float … ha! The tide, the tide, ha! Lift, lift, lift … ha! Higher, higher, higher … ha! Then down, down, down … ha!” This was a good welcome. It was planned and conducted entirely by the local Maoris, right from the marae entrance with its archway and Tainui's first greeting, “Welcome to the gathering place of Royalty,” and, right into the innermost court before the runanga meeting house Mahinarangi, and the palatial Turongo, the official residence of the Maori King, thence down to the river and the war canoes with their crews of painted warriors. Her Majesty spent eighteen minutes at Turangawaewae. The planned itinerary had allowed her only three. It was the mana of the Waikatos with their hundred demons that had softened governmental inflexibility. Your marae Koroki was the only one that was trodden by Her Majesty, and you spared nothing to honour the occasion. Your courtyard that day possessed the warmth, vitality, and the charm of a young princess. It recalled to my mind Te Wera's farewell to another Marae of the land: “If you were a lovely lady Motutawa, Perchance you would follow me.” That would be a fitting epigram for you Turangawaewae. You Koroki had garlanded the royal pathway into Mahinarangi with flowers, and the moss-like curls of the lycopodium, strewn upon mats of the rarest weave. You had transplanted whole nikau palms from the heart of Tane forest to shade the Royal road. It was because of these beautiful things that Her Majesty chose to linger with you a little while. It was here too, that the Duke of Edinburgh, impressed by you welcome, expressed the wish to enter Mahinarangi. Yet the hour for their departure had expired, indeed, the exact minute when they should be on their way to the next reception had fallen when behold! I saw him shake his head, and raised his hand, as if in salute to the maioha Potatau, the figure crowning Mahinarangi. One of your chieftain's Te Rotohiko rose to the occasion. “Allow me to escort you to our runanga,” he invited. Koroki and his daughter walked with the royal party into Mahinarangi. Maoritanga received another lift by this incident, and its glory was shining like the stars in the heavens. The Queen had entered Mahinarangi It was there Koroki, that you displayed for their benifit the handiwork of Ruatepupuke—the muse of art. They were enabled to see for themselves: “The curving wizardry, brought from above And the hammered art of Mataiti's blade.” The Duke of Edinburgh has a discerning personality,