"It couldn’t have been any better really. Everything had been booked out.
"The community really came out and embraced all of the events."
It has been a long wait to host The Sandman, Marcus Winter, from Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The trust held the celebrations in partnership with the Ngā Herenga Waka Kapa Haka group, as an opportunity for locals and visitors to the region to come together to acknowledge and celebrate New Zealand’s shared identity.
The week’s activities included cross-cultural events including music and kapa haka performances.
Ms Mitchell-Larivee said the journey up the lake on the Luminosa cruise boat was one of the week’s highlights with the historical account of the region being shared by Kai Tahu historian Ron Bull.
The inaugural journey, which had been fully booked, also had a waiting list of another 50 people hoping to board the RealNZ cruise boat which had been provided for the event.
Despite the province being basked in sunshine for days, yesterday’s outdoor events needed to be changed as some much needed rain arrived.
Kapa haka groups were moved inside and weaving demonstration and waka iwi project rides on the lake had to be cut short, while the rest of the region welcomed the rain.
"Te Anau has been very dry for a long time and it rained yesterday, on the only day that mattered. But actually, we needed the rain, so it was OK.
"It was a great week. We’ve had lots of good feedback."
She had spoken to people throughout the week who had specifically travelled from the North Island to attend the Te Anau celebrations for the third and fourth time.
- By Toni McDonald
