Photos

...As I promised you in my previous posting , here is
Mount Cook , also known as Aoraki , it's Maori name which I like and prefer in respect of Maori culture , and the Maori legend of how this mountainrange was created.
Maori culture has numerous beautiful legends , and here is the one of Aoraki :

"In the beginning there was only darkness . Out of the darkness came Maku( Moisture), who married Mahoranuiatea and they had a son called Raki.

Raki married Pokoharuatepo and their sone were : Aoraki
(Cloud in the Sky ), Rakiroa ( Long Raki ) , Rakirua ( Raki the Second ) and Rarakiroa ( Long unbroken Line ).
They all lived in a special place in the heavens where they had everything they could want.
One day it was revealed that Raki had fallen in love with another woman, Papatuanuku. Raki descended from his home in the heavens to the earth, where he married his new love.
Pokoharuatepo was extremely upset and could not be consoled.

Aoraki and his three brothers became angry because of what their father had done to their mother and they decided to visit Papatuanuku. They climbed into their canoe called Te Waka o Aoraki and descended, sailing across a great ocean called Te Waonui a Takaroa ( The great ocean of Takaroa ).
Aoraki and his brothers journeyed for a long, long time until they found the new wife of their father.
They gazed at Papatuanuku as she lay across the ocean with their father, and realized their father was really in love with her.

Aoraki and his brothers decided that they should return to comfort their mother, who had remained in the heavens. Aoraki stood in his waka and began the sacred chant that would make the canoe rise. Unfortunately he made a mistake and instead of returning, Aoraki and his brothers remained on earth. Strong winds began to blow and the sea began to rise. Aoraki and his brothers panicked when they realised they were stranded on earth. The storm became stronger and the canoe turned on its side. Aoraki and his brothers climbed onto the side of the canoe and waited for someone to come and rescue them.
They waited for a long, long time, but no one came. Slowly, as time passed, their hair turned white and their bodies became as hard as stone.

Eventually they all became snowcapped mountains. Aoraki, the tuakana-eldest of the four brothers, became the tallest peak and is known today by its name Aoraki, while his brothers became the mountain ranges known as Tiritiri o Te Moana - The Southern Alps."

In the workshop you can see Aoraki'a three brothers .

Have a nice day !

Cheers
Dorte.