Roads less travelled

The company car, a lamb and mint pie and a bottle of L&P (world famous in New Zealand). I was ready for a road trip.
For a seasoned Kiwi sports writer in the city of Gisborne, my task would have been the short straw. For an Irish rugby fanatic and junior reporter, it turned into something else... a journey into the mystic heart of Maori culture. A day that still floats into my wandering mind some four years later. The start of my love affair with Aotearoa.
My task was to report on a Ngati Porou East Coast rugby match.
Today, Ngati Porou rugby is one of the most preserved symbols of Maori mana (a supernatural force) in New Zealand.
Whakarua Park is right in the middle of the tiny rural settlement of Ruatoria, hidden from tourists in the valleys under Mount Hikurangi - a Maori representation of strength, holding tapu (sacred) status.
I set myself a target of perfecting the pronunciation of each Maori named settlement en route to the ground. First up was Wainui, where there is a burial site for 59 sperm whales that perished in 1970. Then over the hill was Makorori followed by Tatapouri – where tourists can feed stingrays. Next was Whangara – a picture perfect setting for the iconic 2002 movie Whale Rider.
My comfort stop was a coffee shop in the quaint coastal town Tolaga Bay. My barista produced the perfect flat white. “Are you French?” she asked.
“Na, I’m Irish.”
I looked out the window and saw a man riding his horse past the door. He was wearing a cowboy hat and waving a flag. Just another day in Tolaga Bay.
“Awww, Brian O’Driscoll,” she continued.
“Chur! Do you know your fellas still haven’t beaten the All Blacks!”
Ouch!
But for a few scattered settlements, the rest of my journey was engulfed by rugged beauty, an untouched rolling land.
At Tokomaru Bay I turned inland for Te Puia Springs, where natural warm waters they say have healing powers.
In Ruatoria, Hikurangi towers behind the stadium. The home town haka had the crowd in raptures.
Its only four years later, but I can’t remember the score. Everything else about my journey though is crystal clear. The power of that haka, the earthly taste of the post-match hangi, the names on the road signs and the warmth of the people. For the first time, I felt like a son of Aotearoa.
You can experience an East Coast home rugby match and a journey on the road less travelled in August and September any year. Ngati Porou home games are usually played every second week over this time.