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November 10, 2021
Sunblock and smoked eel as Covid caravan goes north
Adam Gifford
Posted On November 10, 2021
Download AudioEntertainer Pio Terei says being back in the land of his birth is a reminder the north rolls in a different way.
He’s in Te Taitokerau as part of Te Whānau o Waipareira’s team helping local health providers vaccinate Māori in out of the way settlements like Panguru and Mangamuka.
They encountered one woman who stood across the road for half the day protesting loudly.
“She voiced her opinion for nearly half the day and then came over and says ‘can I have a drink of water and have you got any sunblock please,’ and I’m thinking ‘only in Northland,’ and then I get some fella pull up and he throws some vacuum-packed smoked eel at me so there’s a lot of love in these communities and I’m honoured to be part of this hikoi, it’s really cool,” Terei says.
Pio Terei says Covid prevention measures means the campaign is being run like a military exercise, with the West Aucklanders keeping in their bubble and not even able to go into a café to get a coffee.
