Sound of drums greets Sir Paul's hearse

In an ode to his Taranaki origins, the sound of drums greeted Sir Paul Reeves' hearse as his body arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre yesterday.

Sir Paul, the country's first Maori governor-general, died on Sunday morning after a battle with cancer.

His wife, Beverley, Lady Reeves, and daughters Sarah, Bridget and Jane accompanied his body into the church with a delegation of Te Ati Awa mourners.

It was a slow, mournful rhythm which greeted the funeral cortege for the tangi.

Snow hampered buses coming from Taranaki, meaning there was nowhere near the 5000 expected for the first day of formalities.

The tangi runs until Thursday and will end with a state funeral at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Parnell.