PAKI PAKI

Some of the members of the Korongata Ward who meet in Bridge Pa are from a small town nearby called Paki Paki.  We went there for the first time this week (Monday, 24 Sept) to meet with a homebound member, who is on dialysis but is still a strong member of the Church.  After visiting with her, we decided to drive around Paki Paki because it appeared to be a tucked-away little paradise.  Here's some of the things we enjoyed seeing:

As most towns, Paki Paki had its own marae; but this is the nicest ones we've seen.

 Figure on top of the marae; these are always hand-carved and tell a story from the tribe.

There were also two different "totems" at the entrance to the marae; wish there had been someone nearby to explain them to us.

This is an old Anglican church, St. Luke's, across the way from the marae.  It's still in use today, and we were very impressed with its beauty.

Interior of the Anglican church

This is the first church built in Paki Paki, a Catholic Church.  It is no longer used but is being preserved. Next to it is the new Catholic Church (picture below).

A man who was working on the grounds allowed us to go inside and take a few pictures.  We could not find the name of the church anywhere, but there was a statue of Mary, and from that, we think it might be called the Immaculate Conception church.

Once again, the Maori influence is visible.  This is the altar area, backed with the tall windows below the crucifix that you can see from the front of the building.

Close-up picture of the carving behind the altar.










A couple of weeks after our first visit to Paki Paki, we went back again to try and find some more less-active members.  This time we discovered that this tiny town has TWO more maraes.  These other two are family-owned, where the first one is the community marae.  We saw this sign, which pointed down a path to see one of our new findings.

This marae was a lot smaller than the community marae but very well taken care of and very interesting to see.

What impressed us about this smaller marae was all the art work under the porch area.

Here's more of the art work, along with a closer view of the Maori carvings, which are different at every marae.

We only took one picture of this last marae because it was behind a fence, and we couldn't see the name of it anywhere and didn't want to trespass.  You'll notice that it is much plainer than the other two maraes...same basic design but only the one small carving at the top of the roof.  Regardless, these maraes are cherished by the Maori people and are always treated very respectfully.