Ngauruhoe, photo by Views Postcards

Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe mountains dominate the Tongariro National Park and Volcanic Plateau situated in the centre of the North Island. This is the oldest national park and was given to the people of New Zealand by the Maori owners in 1891. There are many legends around these majestic peaks and for me, the mountains and their legends sum up the essence of the North Island, New Zealand.

Ngatoro-i-rangi was the sacred Ariki, the high priest of the Arawa canoe crew, and when that Polynesian ship's company landed at Maketu, in the Bay of Plenty, five hundred years ago, he set forth to explore the strange new land. When he reached the foot of the mountain range now known as Tongariro, he decided to ascend in order to spy out the country, for, like the modern surveyor, the ancient Maori land-seeker and path-finder always made for the high points of the country in his journeyings. With one or two companions he climbed to the summit of the central volcano, the Ngauruhoe peak, and while he was there a snow storm suddenly befell, and he was like to die with the freezing cold. In his dire extremity he exerted his marvellous powers, and he prayed in a loud voice for the fire of the gods. He cried to his priestess sisters in the far north, saying: "E Kuiwai e! Haungaroa e! Ka riro au I te tonga! Haria mai he ahi moku!" ("O Kuiwai! O Haungaroa! I am borne away in the cold south wind - I perish from the cold! Send me fire to warm me!")

And straight away his priestess sisters heard him, and they appealed to the fire demons Te Pupu and Te Hoata - personifications these of volcanic and thermal heat - and the saving fire was sent, by way of White island and Rotorua and intermediate spots where the hot springs boil up today. The saving fire reached the perishing Ariki there on the mountain top, and his freezing body gained fresh life, and he and his companions were saved. The fire which was his salvation burst forth at the top of Ngauruhoe - and that is why there is a fuming crater there to this day. And from the words riro (carried away or seized) and tonga (south wind) which he used in his cry to the goddesses of the sacred fire, came the name Tongariro, which was bestowed upon these great volcanic peaks. For, the name Tongariro formerly included in Maori usage all three peaks - Tongariro Range, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu - all three were considered as one, the sacred kopu, the belly of this island-fish, the abode of the fire gods, ever afterwards to be regarded as the holy of holies of the Arawa nation

There have still been a number of eruptions in recent years from Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe but Tongariro has been quiet since 1927. However, the many steaming fumaroles of the thermal areas surrounding the park are a constant reminder that the volcanoes are still alive!

I had never experienced the magic and mystery of thermal areas prior to a visit up to Taupo and Rotorua townlands. From the side of the road steam rises out of bushes and up through the grates. Luckily there was only a slight sulphurous odour to the air, which I believe can smell like rotten eggs on some days!

It is a wonder to walk around a thermal area and feel the earth warm to the touch and the mosses and plants enjoying the constant heat and moisture. The colours of the soil vary from silica grey and white to sulphur yellow and green where crystals have formed just under the crust. Sometimes it felt as if walking through mini volcanoes as huge cauldrons of boiling mud and water have been formed from the pressure of the thermal activity boiling under the earth and finding an escape route through vents in the earths crust.

These places felt mysterious with their clouds of steam drifting across the land, however, the magic was further down the line. The thermal areas heated natural springs providing hot waterfalls to bathe in and gaze out at the blue winter sky and ferns above! In earlier times Maori tribes would use the thermal vents to heat water and cook vegetables over. Now they are attractive to tourists and the pools used for pure relaxation.

There are other tales involving the mountains of Tongariro National Park and linking Taranaki or Egmont mountain which is situated close to Wanganui.

"The mountains have a legend about 'Pehinga' a beautiful mountain. There were three mountains by the names of 'Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Taranaki, they all loved her. One day she had to make a choice and she chose Ngauruhoe. [The other mountains were then banished from the place] Tongariro kept looking back so when the sun came up Tongariro was not far away from her. Taranaki just kept going and he made a trench which became our river, the Wanganui River." [Kelsey]

"There are two towers, [in Wanganui]. The river starts at the mountains, there is also a lake called, Virginia lake. New Zealand is the smallest country. New Zealand is really cool. It's sometimes hot and it is really cold, I like New Zealand, it's really awesome." [Shannon].

When I first arrived in Wanganui , which is also known as River City, it was explained to me several times that Wanganui river starts up in the mountains at the Volcanic plateau and comes all the way down to the sea.

As the river passes through Wanganui it is very wide and gently flowing, further up the river where it gets squeezed through gorges and thrown over rocks it can be more exciting, especially for those in canoes. Maori legends again warn of the dangers of strange water 'monsters' that live in the choppy waters.

The original owner of Tutaeporoporo was a Rangitikei Maori chief named Tuariki, who, on a fishing expedition to the South Island caught a young shark, which he noticed was so different from the usual sharks that he decided to keep it alive and make a pet of it. Tuariki kept his pet shark in a waterhole among the rocks, feeding it every day until such time as he returned to his home at Rangitikei. On his arrival at his old home, Tuariki placed his pet in a deep hole in the Rangitikei River, where, under his daily care, it grew to be almost as large as a whale, and eventually developed into a real live Taniwha. Tuariki decided to bestow a suitable name on his Taniwha - Tutaeporoporo.

A war party from Wanganui attacked the Maoris of Rangitikei. During the battle Tuariki was killed and his body taken back to Wanganui to be cooked and eaten according to custom. Tutaeporoporo became anxious at his master's absence. He left his old home in the river and travelled out to the ocean where he sniffed the four winds. The scent was strong on the west wind so he set out to find his master, Tuariki.

Tutaeporoporo followed the scent up the Wanganui River and found that his master had been killed and eaten so he travelled downriver to find a suitable place to make a permanent home. Here he wrecked vengeance on the enemies of his beloved master. He was not discriminating in his victims, as men, women and children, as well as their canoes, went down his capacious throat.

I was given a group of children chosen for their creative ability and enthusiasm from two different classes at Churton School. Luckily the school was able to give me the use of a large room, which I quickly took over! I have received unending help from teachers and particularly Lynnette Tutty, making sure that anything I needed was there and that I had all the time I needed with the children; I am thoroughly spoilt now!

This class has been the first that I have had on my own, which has been a new experience with the only difficulties being no one extra to remember to take photos! It is so difficult to teach and photograph at the same time!! Still, we managed a good supply of most of the stages of the project.

I began by explaining what had been done before and talking once again about the origins of felt making and how it was discovered. We looked at the pictures from the other countries and the children gave some of their impressions on each country I'd been to. We also had a 'brain storm' to get some ideas for the 'North Island' panel.

The morning before I started the felt part of the project with the sixteen children, a 'Wax-Eye' (small native garden bird) was brought into the house by the resident cat. I had been thinking about making small birds with the children and took this as a sign! I had the chance to study it and decide the best way to make a small bird with children aged 9 or 10 years old!

I decided to give the children different colours to use as once again we had an amazing selection of wool given to us by the Chargeurs wool company of Roger O'Brien in Timaru and Bruce and Ellen Anderson of Geraldine. The white merino was also dyed for us for free by the women of Geraldine, Alison Hurley, Timaru, Gwenneth Looms and Blenheim, Joan Mclauchlan. Once again I send out thanks from myself and the children for the beautiful colours.

For the second felt project for the children to get an idea of how they would turn a drawing on paper into a felt picture, I chose to make colourful masks. We used Maori carvings as inspiration for the pieces taken from coins or other pictures and story books in the school.

They designed their own 'mask' using shapes cut out from semi-felt and then used spun wool to add to the pattern. These were all felted into different coloured background wool.

Using a plentiful supply of 'New Zealand's Nature Heritage' magasines, and other picture books from their library, the children drew pictures of the different birds and images that could be seen around the North Island. The group was once again split into different groups and they decided which group they would be in and, therefore, which area of the main picture they would work on. Once again there were two border groups, the rest of the piece was split into three groups of scenery; the volcano, the river and the ocean!

Once we had all the drawings coloured in and cut out, they were displayed on a large sheet of paper. As we had enough time, I decided to get the children to make their own coloured pieces of semi-felt, from the colours they used for the drawings.

Once their felt was dry they then cut out the designs.

As much as it was possible, we took it in turns to pour the water into the roll. Then we spilt into two groups to tackle the rolling and rubbing, which would really get all the wool to felt together.

We took it in turns to sing songs too. The rolling definitely goes better when we're all singing together. It helps to keep a rhythm and take everyone's minds off the fact that it can be hard work!! Due to the fast-felting Merino wool, after the two groups working over at least two hours of felting we were ready to reveal the picture right side up.

For the final two days we had to make a decision about what would be a good gift to make and give to the school as their reminder of the hard work put in. I was very surprised that the children chose to make a flat piece of felt and not a sculpture as had been offered. The decision making process is always a difficult one but eventually we all decided what was important:-

The name of the school - Churton School

The school's motto - "To The New World"

New Zealand and emblems - kiwi and silver fern

It was also important to have it bright and colourful and to include the globe somehow!

After some discussion it was agreed that perhaps we could have a raised globe in the centre of the picture but only put the islands of New Zealand on it, as all the countries would be both too difficult to do and make New Zealand very small indeed!

It was a lot of work for the children to organise in such a short time but they got stuck in and designed and cut out the 26 letters, sun-ray images, kiwis and ferns. They worked as two teams very well. The first team cut out the designs and the second team put it together and felted it.

The globe was felted separately and then sewn on with wool stuffing behind it.

We then prepared a presentation for the end of week assembly and presented the work to the whole school so that everyone could see what had been created in the three weeks. I had brought the South Island panel with me and we showed the two panels together which really did look amazing!

It was a great three weeks with all the staff and students working hard to make sure that my time with Churton School was a joy. Everybody was very friendly and helpful and I'm sure we all enjoyed the project.