Let's Go!

My photo
Palm Beach, NSW, Australia
"There are only three sports. Mountain climbing, bullfighting and motor racing - all the rest being games." So wrote Ernest Hemingway. With this clearly defined, The Gonz, dressed in his best, announced "Let's go!"

Like A Fairy Tern?

I am determined to return by my own actions, to the point where my journey began ...

A Maori chant for hauling a war canoe across land to another waterway.

Leader: Ka tangi te kiwi. (The kiwi cries.)
All : Kiwi! (Kiwi!)
Leader: Ka tangi te moho. (The takahe cries.)
All: Moho! (Moho!)
Leader : Ka tangi te tieke. (The saddleback cries.)
All: Tieke! (Tieke!)
Leader: He poho anake... (Nothing but guts...)
All : To tikoko, tikoko. (...to propel you forward.)
Leader: Haere i te ara. (Keep to the path.)
All: Tikoko. (Drive forward!)
Leader: Ko te taurua te rangi. (Pairing up is heavenly.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Ko te hao-tane. (It's the man-catcher.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Homai me kawe. (Give and take.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Me kawe ki whea? (But where are we taking it to?)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: A - ki te take. (Ah! to the launching site.)
All: Take no Tu. (The launching site for war.)
Leader: E hau... (O wind...)
All: Toia. (Heave away.)
Leader: Hau riri. (Raging wind...)
All: Toia. (Haul away.)
Leader: Toia ake te take. (Pull towards the launching site.)
All: Take no Tu. (The launching site for war.)

A halt, and then a fresh start -

Leader: Koia Rimu, haere! (That's great, Rimu, come on!)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!
Leader: Totara haere. (Come on Totara.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Pukatea haere. (Come on Pukatea.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Homai te tu. (Give me strength.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Homai te maro. (Give me determination.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Kia whitikia. (To get there.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader: Taku takapu. (My belly.)
All: Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)

Leader: H - ihi, e !
All: Ha - ha, e !
Leader: Pi - pi, e !
All: Ta - ta, e !

Three long syllables denoting that a long and strong pull is to be made to overcome difficult ground.

Leader: Apitia. (Join up.)
All: Ha! (Ha!)
Leader: Apitia. (Join up.)
All: Ha! (Ha!)
Leader: Ko te here. (Bind together.)
All: Ha! (Ha!)
Leader: Ko te here. (Bind together.)
All: Ha! (Ha!)
Leader: Ko te timata. (It's beginning... (to really move now))
All: E-ko te tikoko pohue. (Ah! the shoveler of vines.)
Leader: E-ko te aitanga a mata. (Ah! the half-grown child.)
All: E-ko te aitanga a . (Ah! the child paddling with a te hoe-manuka! manuka stick!)

A halt, and then a fresh start -

Leader: Ko au, ko au. (It is I, It is I.)
All: Hi, aue. (Oh yeah!)
Leader: Mate ko te hanga. (The job is almost done.)
All: Hi, aue. (Oh yeah!)
Leader: Turuki, turuki. (Take the strain, take the strain.)
All: Paneke, paneke. (Heave forward, heave forward.)
Leader: Oioi te toki. (Brandish the hatchet.)
All : Kaua ea! (Don't let up!)
Leader : Takitakina. (It's been led here.)
All : Ia. (Yeah!)
Leader : He tikaokao. (Like a rooster.)
All : He tara'o. (Like a fairy tern.)
Leader : He parera. (Like a duck.)
All : Ke, ke, ke, ke. (Quack, quack, quack, quack.)
Leader : He parera. (Just like a duck.)
All : Ke, ke, ke, ke. (Quack, quack, quack, quack.)


Ps "Nothing but guts." I like but, "Like a Fairy tern." seems to lose something in the translation.

Stay tuned!

The GOnz