AUSTRALIA TOUR

Click on the link to visit our blog of our Ozzie Tour.

On the 27th of November, 49 students, staff and parents boarded Mr Haines’ bus on an early Summer’s evening to head to Auckland International Airport. After our prayers and words of encouragement from our families, we were off.

Checking in our luggage was made to look easy, as we worked together to get all the luggage, (some that exceeded the allowed 23 kgs) costumes, and drums. It was rewarding to know that as a group, we were still underweight, and had completed the whole check in process in fifteen minutes. Team work!

The flight to Brisbane was calmer than we had anticipated with a third of the group not having flown before. The flight attendant’s welcoming comments particularly for our group set us all in good spirits, as we cheered and celebrated in our island way (che-hooo). Arriving into Brisbane International Airport we immediately felt the difference in temperature as we waited in the Customs line, island fans out, we waited patiently to be officially welcomed into Australia. A rush of excitement hit the boys when they saw that the Television programme Border Control was being filmed. Fortunately none of us featured on it.

For the first five days in Australia we stayed in The Gold Coast – The Super Sports Centre, home to the Gold Coast Titans. What a beautiful complex! Housed in lodges that kept ten rooms, some air-conditioned complete with ensuites, we made use of the facilities this place had to offer from the swimming pools, to the weights rooms and gyms, volleyball courts, internet rooms and so much more.

We definitely knew we were in Australia; the heat was beautiful, 36 degrees at 11 in the morning? And we thought our 24 degrees in NZ was hot! Our first show was at The Robbie Williams Reserve in Cooparoo, where we performed as part of a Sports and Cultural festival. Our first taste of performing in 39 degree heat!! To cool off, we spent the afternoon and early evening relaxing at South Bank a man made lagoon in the heart of Brisbane City’s CBD. At the end of our evening we quickly became street buskers and entertainers as we wowed the city-goers with our singing; occupants from the towering apartment blocks whistled and cheered for us and yelled out for us to perform a haka; all of this, while we waited for our buses to make it’s way through the city’s busy streets.

Dream World lived up to its name, everyone, including the parents and teachers roamed excitedly through the park riding on all the rides. We started off all energetic, and by mid afternoon the weather had got to us, we longed for the refreshing pool that awaited us back at the Sports Centre.

The next day we again spent the whole day at Wet n Wild. For a lot of us, this was our most memorable day of the trip, hooning down all the slides, riding the huge surfboard, posing for photos on the Giant Mammoth. The men cooked our BBQ which was a feast of Aussie bangers, chops, patties, breads and salads. We left the Gold Coast that evening, the last ones to walk out of Wet n Wild and headed back up to Brisbane, where we were to be billeted by the people of Aitutaki Enua in Logan. After a quick show for them we were paired up with our host families and said our goodbyes to one another.

We spent the next two days sightseeing with our host families. Some of the groups went to Surfers Paradise, some went to the beach, some went shopping, some went to the movies, some slept …On our final night in Brisbane we held a concert for the community who hosted us. It was humbling to see many former residents of Tokoroa at the show that evening supporting us. Our concert was a huge success.

The flight to Melbourne was a quiet one with almost everyone taking the three hour flight to catch up on sleep. We had mastered the art of group check-ins at airports now, having done so a second time. The Cook Islands community of Clayton were to be our hosts for the next three days; the mamas waited for us at the church with a beautiful spread prepared for us. All the boys stayed together in the suburb of Hampton Park and the girls were put into small groups spread out throughout Clayton, Narre Warren and Cranbourne. Our evening show for the community saw a lot more former Tokoroa residents. We wowed them with our beautiful costumes and passion for what we did and in return, they showed their appreciation with monetary donations.

Sunday morning began early for Mr & Mrs Barbarich, Apera and I as we woke Melbourne city up with our Tokoroan sense of humour live on radio. Still tired from the night before, we answered the Radio DJ’s questions the best we could, by joking with them and ‘winging it’. The Sunday church service ran for almost four hours! Some struggled to sit still, to keep their eyes open and to handle the Australian heat. However, it was an enjoyable service and it was really nice to see people who had come to watch our concert the night before, come to share more time with us. After a huge lunch, the boys, Mrs Orouamai and I headed to Mordeallic beach to cool off; the boys swam til dark, tackling each other, spelling names using their bodies and singing in the sunset.

The next morning we were together again ready to tour the Victorian Coast. Leaving Melbourne, we headed for Geelong for our first performance at Johnstone Park at the centre of the city. The drummers warmed up and it didn’t take long to attract the attention of the midday rush. Our invitation for some of them to join us in dancing saw members of the public show off their rhumba moves, where others referred to hysteric jumping!

Shopping up a storm at Coles, their version of our New World, we headed along the Great Ocean Road; destination, Lorne; a beautiful sea-side town. The three hour drive allowed us to see the sites of Great Ocean Road and coming from little old Tokoroa, it truly was beautiful. Lorne welcomed us with rain as we settled into our cabins, complete with bunks and beds, ensuites, kitchen and dining rooms. Within our camping grounds were Year 12 students (Years 13’s in NZ) from around the state of Victoria, here to celebrate ‘Schoolies’, a huge party for Year 12’s celebrating the end of their years of Secondary School. With the tight security of staff and parents, we ensured none of our students celebrated Schoolies alongside them.

As the morning clouds hovered over Lorne we prepared ourselves to leave our evening’s abode to perform for Lorne P-12 College. Twelve years ago,

Polinetia Fa’atasi of 1997 visited this same school. The students here were of the ages 6 – 18, however all of the Senior School were on study leave for end of year exams. The young students clapped and enthusiastically watched as we performed dances from around the Pacific. They knew a lot about the All Blacks, The Haka and Rotorua.

Back into our buses we drive for a further three hours to the city of Warrnambool, continuing along Great Ocean Road, stopping to see the limestone rock stacks known as the Twelve Apostles, (however only three remain). We saw Koala’s in gum trees and signs warning us about kangaroos, but we didn’t see any. Stopping in a town called Apollo Bay, we used the beach as a backdrop for photo opportunities. We could have sworn we were in Rarotonga with its white sands and turquoise waters. Getting into their costumes, the students caught the eyes of Tourist buses passing by, who also took the opportunity have photos with them. Tourists from Canada, Japan, Germany, Brazil and even one from the New York Times photographed the students. Warrnambool Beach Backpackers was our home for the night. It had everything and it didn’t take us long to settle in; huge Plasma TV, comfortable couches, pool tables, darts boards, it had it all. We hit the beach and danced amongst the waves while others buried themselves in sand and made human-like girlfriends out of sand. That night we had the tastiest BBQ and relaxed to watch our Melbourne show on DVD.

The next morning after checking out, we took to the streets of Warnambool’s CBD for a bit of retail therapy. The wallet a little bit thinner and shopping bags later, we headed back to the beach for more group photos and our last swim in Australian waters. We arrived back into Melbourne ready for bed.

Our last day in Melbourne was spent with our host families. Most, took to the city by train. Flinders Street Train Station became all too familiar for some of us as we searched for lost Tokoroan souls who hadn’t followed instructions. A car boot of shopping bags later, everyone had arrived for our last dinner with the hosts.

Our tour to Australia was an overall success. It will be a trip that I know all of the staff, parents and students who went will remember for the rest of their lives. It could not have been achieved however, without the never-ending support of the parents and caregivers, families and friends of the members of FVHS Polinetia Fa’atasi. To the community of Forest View High School, Tokoroa and the South Waikato, we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for all you had done for us, through sponsorship, donations, our fundraising ventures, words of encouragement and your thoughts and prayers, we were able to take this group to share with Australia their love for performing. Thank you to Miss Livingstone, Ms Potoru, Mr & Mrs Potoru, Mrs Earnshaw and all the wonderful parents who went on tour for the awesome time we had together.

Polinetia Fa’atasi 2010 will begin Friday evening, 19th February from 6pm-9pm in D1 Music Room. All old and new members are welcome. If you would like to learn songs, dances and traditions of the Pacific, or would like to learn more about your own Pasifika heritage, we invite you to join your school’s Polynesian Culture group.

Fa’afetai tele lava
Meitaki maata

Mr A. Mutua
Teacher-in-charge Polinetia Fa’atasi

FUNDRAISING EVENTS

A big thank you to all those who supported our first Cultural Evening and Buffet in the holidays and also those people who bought something from our stall at the National Pacific Island Dance Competition or bought Island plates on the 25 July. Our fundraising is all on track. The group is counting down to the take off!!!

On Friday 27th November, we depart for Brisbane – Australia and will spend the first 5 days in The Gold Coast. After visiting the Tourist Attractions of the Gold Coast we will make our way up to Brisbane City staying in the beach side suburb of Redcliffe where we will perform for the people from Tokoroa now living in Brisbane, school groups and Pacific Island communities.

On Friday 4th December, we depart for Melbourne by plane, staying in the suburb of Clayton – home to many former residents of Tokoroa. We will spend three days here, performing for the community before setting off on a tour of The Victorian Great Ocean Road through Geelong, Lorne & Warrnambool, performing for Schools, Hospitals and Nursing Homes. Our last two days will be spent back in Melbourne itself, hitting those shopping malls!

We arrive back into Auckland at 9.25pm on Friday 11th December.

To the Forest View High School & Tokoroa community, thank you all for the support we have received throughout the year. To the parents, caregivers extended families and friends of the members of Polinetia Fa’atasi – meitaki maata, fa’afetai lava and tena koutou katoa for your on-going support of all our fundraising ventures this year. We could not have achieved so much if you weren’t behind us.

For almost 2 months the group has been learning and practising items from the islands of Tokelau, Samoa and the Cook Islands. They are tutored by myself, Teupoko Natua, Alfie Collier and Soopoaga Paito.

Thanks to Miss Livingstone, many of our awesome parents and extended family members, we took to the stage in brand new costumes. All the hard-work in sewing and printing these paid off when we were announced the winners of the trophy for Best Costume.

Mr A. Mutua, Miss S. Livingstone
Teachers-in-Charge Polinetia Fa’atasi

View Performance Photos
as Slideshow

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