Is it possible to visit all Islands in South Pacific in a day? Guess what, I did that by attending 17th Pasifika Festival held in Western Springs Park recently. It was reported that, 300,000 people attended the event and it was recorded as one of the largest free community events in the South Pacific.
The event featured ten cultural 'villages', one for each Pacific nation, and I had visited Fiji, Cook Island, Niue, Samoa, Tahiti, Tangata Whenua, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau in less than 4 hours.
Frankly speaking, I never heard some of the names before and that made me realised the importance of being attentive during Geography class in school. The festival is a showcase for Pacific talent and culture. The idea is to see, smell, taste, feel and hear the uniqueness of Auckland's Pacific Island community in all aspects from arts and music to traditional foods, handicrafts and cultural performances.
It was a splendid experience and for the first time in my life I felt so small and thin since most of the Polynesian people wore XXXL shirt. And another surprising fact is I do look like them!
Tuvalu Ladies
One of the stalls selling handicrafts
Ice-cream in watermelon - yummy !!
Crowds in Samoa Village
with Miss Samoa
Let me end this posting with greetings in different language of ‘Pacific Nation’
Kia ora (Maori)
Talofa lava (Samoa)
Malo e lelei (Tonga)
Ni sa bula vinaka (Fiji)
Kia orana (Cook Island)
Fakaalofa lahi atu (Niue)
Kam na mauri (Kiribati)
Taloha ni (Tokelau)
La orana (Tahiti)
Talofa (Tuvalu)
Greetings
Ahau-Dee