E hikoi ana i ngā tapuwae o ōku tīpuna.

E hikoi ana i ngā tapuwae o ōku tīpuna.

I was on Rakiura (Stewart Island) and while I was there I headed off to do the Great Walk. Most people do this over a leisurely three days. I did a brisk hikoi and completed the gorgeous track in a day. As I walked along the beaches of the first section of the track, I wondered who of my tīpuna had also walked along these beaches. I was walking in the footsteps of my ancestors.

One of the many beaches I walked along

The isterband sausage on the picnic table

It was a sunny day, and after a couple of hours I arrived at Port William Hut. On the picnic table outside the hut, I spied a sausage. Never one to pass up a tasty morsel, I ate this sausage. I determined it was an isterband sausage from Grey Lynn Butchers. This is a coarsely ground pork sausage that is chunky on the palate. Roughly ground pearl barley helps to bind the sausage. The pearl barley adds texture and flavour to the sausage. Isterband is a Swedish sausage, which is lightly spiced with salt and maybe ginger or all spice. All this combines for a great sausage to eat. This sausage won the Supreme Award at the Great New Zealand Sausage Competition in 2020. These sausages are splendid eating while walking the beaches and hills of Rakiura.

I felt exhilarated and alive as I walked around the route. Being in the ngahere with the manu is great for the wairua and the soul. I whakapapa from Ngāi Tahu who have lived and walked on this whenua for generations, as I walked along the beaches and through the bush I contemplated; e hikoi ana i nga tapawae o ōku tīpuna (I am walking in the footsteps of my ancestors).

And for readers of this blog from around the world the following translations from te reo Māori are provided:

Hikoi – walk,  tipuna – ancestors,  ngahere – bush,  manu – bird,  wairua – spirit,  whakapapa – genealogy,  whenua – land.