Kia ora e te whanau!!!
Well whanau, we FINALLY started up at Poho on Saturday 5 December, kicking off with a karakia at 5am to keep our kaimahi safe as they move forward with the extremely important task of building and restoring our pa.
We then hosted our kaimahi for a little morning tea afterwards.
Well whanau, we FINALLY started up at Poho on Saturday 5 December, kicking off with a karakia at 5am to keep our kaimahi safe as they move forward with the extremely important task of building and restoring our pa.
We then hosted our kaimahi for a little morning tea afterwards.
After the karakia was complete, the whanau got to work moving all our stainless steel from Papawhariki onto a trailer ready to go into storage.
On the Sunday the last of the pavers were uplifted off the stage in order to make way for uncle Peter's crew on Monday, who would start the demolition of the stage. It was awesome to see our whanau all pulling together, sharing the load.
Monday 5th December uncle Peter started in earnest with his team and the dismantling of the stage and walls began.
The team worked well and by the end of the week the site had been tidied, both ends of Papawhariki had been pulled down, and the majority of the stage was dismantled.
The team worked well and by the end of the week the site had been tidied, both ends of Papawhariki had been pulled down, and the majority of the stage was dismantled.
for Work has been progressing well with the demolition, and with any luck we should have it completed by the end of the week and hopefully we can get the foundation poured.
Some of the whanau may be wondering why we needed to remove the walls and frontage. Because the walls have a concrete nib wall underneath them, the walls needed to come out in order to get one consistent smooth pour. When the exterior paving is poured, it will then meet the foundation neatly, without an old concrete in the middle.
This does mean that the cabbage trees will need to come out, which could be a good thing given that they aren't looking too healthy.
While we've had good progress, we've got a few things that are causing concern.
Firstly, we were unprepared for how deteriorated the support beams for the front wall were. Both had been eaten right through and were actually not holding or supporting anything at all. While we're extremely grateful we discovered this when we did, it means we need to re-evaluate the structure. Uncle Peter is currently working out the game plan with our engineer, but this shouldn't put the brakes on anything at this stage.
Some of the whanau may be wondering why we needed to remove the walls and frontage. Because the walls have a concrete nib wall underneath them, the walls needed to come out in order to get one consistent smooth pour. When the exterior paving is poured, it will then meet the foundation neatly, without an old concrete in the middle.
This does mean that the cabbage trees will need to come out, which could be a good thing given that they aren't looking too healthy.
While we've had good progress, we've got a few things that are causing concern.
Firstly, we were unprepared for how deteriorated the support beams for the front wall were. Both had been eaten right through and were actually not holding or supporting anything at all. While we're extremely grateful we discovered this when we did, it means we need to re-evaluate the structure. Uncle Peter is currently working out the game plan with our engineer, but this shouldn't put the brakes on anything at this stage.
Other parts of the Papawhariki structure weren't in the best condition either, so it's really timely that we're addressing it.
Despite some of the challenges we're trucking forward in an effort to get as much done before we break for Christmas.
In the meantime, if there is anything else you would like to know, please check out our FAQs or get in contact via this website or Facebook.
Na Te Tima Pa Eke Tu
In the meantime, if there is anything else you would like to know, please check out our FAQs or get in contact via this website or Facebook.
Na Te Tima Pa Eke Tu