Piri's Tiki Tour - Tolaga Bay (First Episode)

The East Coast's stunning Tolaga Bay/Ūawa is the setting of the very first Piri's Tiki Tour, which celebrates hunter-gatherers in Māori communities. This week, former All Black Piri Weepu (Te Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tahu) compares his skills against father and kaimoana-gatherer Richard Meihana (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tūhoe). The awa (river) and moana (sea) is plentiful when Meihana teaches Weepu how to gather crayfish and freshwater mussels — whilst Meihana's children swim and play around them. Weepu, a te reo Māori speaker, also learns of Meihana's whakapapa and the history of the area, including Cook's Cove. 

I suppose everyone's got a home to them, they always return to home. Tolaga, it just became home to me, and so I sort of stayed back and held the fort. It's our turn to step up now and just passing it onto our kids and our next generation...

– Tolaga Bay local Richard Meihana, late in this episode

Key Cast & Crew

Matiu Sadd

Series Producer, Story Producer

Mark Taylor

Head of Operations, Post-Production Producer

Bailey Mackey

Executive Producer

Tom Hay

Editor

Piri Weepu

Presenter

Sasha Santosh

Graphics