A nine year old from Martinborough school that I was with recently described Lake Wairarapa as ‘rippling and looking like an ocean.’ James’s words meant a lot to me thanks to the experiences I have had hosting field trips along the southern reaches of the Ruamāhanga and on the shores of Lake Wairarapa. These field trips, for classes from some of the South Wairarapa primary schools, are the backbone of Ruamāhanga Farm Foundation’s (RFF) Te Reo o te Wai educational programme, which has been running for the last three years.
For a long time, I thought moana only meant the sea. It was confusing for me because, in te reo Māori, I knew the word in moana referenced the ocean. But here, the Wairarapa Moana is a vast and complex wetland system—not just one lake. It includes Lake Wairarapa, Lake Ōnoke, the southern reaches of the Ruamāhanga River, other rivers, streams, wetlands, and the surrounding flood plains. It’s not hard to imagine when the rivers were in flood, before stop-banks and river diversions existed, this entire 30-kilometre long area in the southern end of our Wairarapa valley would become a spectacular inland sea teeming with life. No wonder it became revered as a treasured taonga by local Māori.
Lake Wairarapa and tamariki from Pirinoa School
Science
With the support of Rachel Griffiths and Natasha Robinson from the charity Mountains to Sea Wellington (MTSW), tamariki explore the Ruamāhanga Awa as it flows in places close to Martinborough, and spend time at Lake Wairarapa. Equipped with clarity tubes, thermometers, and sorting trays, our young scientists test water quality and discover who lives beneath the surface. The presence of sensitive insects like flat mayflies and caddis flies, along with water temperatures averaging around 15 degrees celsius, means the water is healthier than I expected.
Tamariki from Kahutara and Pirinoa School with Rachel Griffiths from Mountains to Sea Wellington
Poetry
Alongside developing their science brain, we encourage tamariki to be poets: to observe and wonder and to find freedom with words. They write about what they see, feel, and hope for—a future where the Moana thrives. Local poet William Connor has brought their words together into collective poems. Here is a glimpse from a class of six, seven and eight-year-olds at Kahutara school.
William Connor inspiring poetry at the Ruamāhanga awa with Featherston School
Today at Wairarapa Moana, I saw…
…the stream trickling into the lake (Abel)
…kāwau calmly flapping her soft wings (Wairua)
…light green mountains and cold eels (Reagan)
…a kākahi stretching open its shell like it was sunbathing (Noah)
…an īnanga … blob blob blobbing. (Florence)
Far away…
…the kāwau is calming down its wings (Brock)
I heard…
…the river moving across the bank (Epirama)
…eels splashing in the waves (Walter)
I felt…
…happy and proud (Merle)
…soft (Wairua)
I loved…
…feeling the slimy, gentle eel ( Izzy)
…seeing the swans gliding (Paddy)
Today at the lake my heart
… felt so warm (Bowen)
…felt like a swan gliding in the water (Oceania)
…grew giant (Colton)
This year, the Martinborough Music Festival has commissioned singer-songwriter Sam Auger to transform these poems into songs. These will be performed, with storytelling and percussion, in interactive concerts for the participating primary schools, Martinborough, Pirinoa, and Kahutara. Recordings will be available on listening posts along local walkways within the Wairarapa Moana later this year.
Planting
The collaboration between different environmental organisations; RFF, MTSW, The Aorangi Restoration Trust, Trees that Count, The Ruamāhanga Restoration Trust, The South Wairarapa Biodiversity group and He Kotare Nursery together with a number of farmers in the Waihinga Catchment Group and Hau Ariki Marae, provides the foundation for a rich and varied Te Reo o te Wai journey.
Tamariki from Martinborough School Planting at Waihinga Bush
In addition to discovering more about the water and the creatures that live there, tamariki are able to contribute to the health of the moana by planting trees and wetland grasses in significant riparian and wetland locations of the Moana.
Planting spots this year include Waihinga Bush, Ruamāhanga Farm, Okarewa lagoon and Lake Domain Reserve.
What the future might be
Alongside hands-on conservation, our trips combine storytelling, reflection and creative expression—spaces where tamariki can absorb the light and the shadow of the Moana and also dream what the future might be. We recently shared an Inuit story about raven and whale to convey that every living thing has a heart and a soul, and that every living thing dies. The reality of that can sometimes be heart breaking. During one trip, we found an eel shot in the head, and the next day discovered that important eel traps and fish nets had been stolen—removing opportunities for the tamariki to safely monitor and release endangered native fish like tuna and īnanga. This marks the second such theft in the area. The loss of these nets is a heavy blow to the important citizen science work of Mountains to Sea Wellington and shows how much care and vigilance the Moana needs.
The tamariki themselves expressed their feelings simply and poignantly:
“I felt so sad but it was like the magic of life.” (Issy)
“I hope that 500 years after I am gone everything will be safe and quiet like a flower.” (Max)
Words by Jane Riddiford
NB: A version of this post also appeared in the Wairarapa Midweek Paper see here