The Day the Hokule'a landed on Pt England Beach

Left photo: 10.00am The Hokule'a and Hikianalia crew along with Hawai'is Education leaders land on Pt England Beach.
Right photo: 1.30pm Intermediate boys vs Kings Prep School at Kings, Remuera

One of the iconic Polynesian voyaging canoes, the Hokule'a was launched on March 8th 1975.  Forty years on, 12 schools in our Manaiakalani cluster, had the privilege of witnessing the magnificent waka land on Pt England Beach, also accompanied by another voyaging canoe, the Hikianalia, that carried Hawai'is education leaders.  It was a marvellous occasion that will always be remembered. More information can be found on their website: Hokule'a - Point England Welcome

It was also the day that 23 intermediate boys played friendly touch games against 3 teams from the Kings Preparatory School in Remuera.  After such a busy, significant morning, where a number of boys were the leaders, videographers and carers for junior students - they were tired.  However, they still had enough energy to travel to Kings to play a game of touch.  When we arrived, the boys who had never been there before, were so fascinated by the spongy artificial grass, that some chose to play bare foot or in socks.  A few chose to lie on it, and could've easily had an afternoon nap but they had games to play!  The 'B' and 'C' grade games were fairly close but our 'A' team, comprising of mostly Year 7's were beaten by a well prepared team.  They will be better for the experience and can build on their knowledge to make improvements by Term 4 when we'll meet each other again in touch.

This is the second year we've played touch against Kings in the first term and coming up next term, it will be our third year in playing rugby union against their 15-aside U68kgs team.  We have also played softball against a couple of their teams in the past as well.  It's a friendly sports exchange that's a mutually beneficial experience for both schools.