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Friday, January 6, 2017

Roadside Art

On our recent trip to the Marsden Cross site we passed a large shed or barn on the side of the rough metalled road. It was beautifully painted:
Front

Side

When we got home I tried to translate the Maori words: 
Rere tonu anu te waka ki runga I nga ngaru tautoko o te iwi.
I tried Google translate which told it me it meant: "Running the car on the back waves of the people."!! (This gave me an insight into the problems people have when learning a language not their own. Don't take Google translations too literally.) I still haven't found a Maori speaker to give a fluent, colloquial translation but I think Google does point in the right direction with the message being: The waka (canoe) moves forward on the waves of support from everyone in the iwi (tribe).

A great message whatever our "tribe" - and I loved the fact that this barn "in the middle of nowhere" had been so creatively decorated. It was in itself a demonstration of the combined pride and support of "everyone in the iwi".