Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te tau hou ki a koutou katoa me o koutou whānau
As we look towards a new year in 2016, this is the time when we reflect on where we have come from and the year that is soon to be behind us. It is a time for rest, for renewal, for contemplation and for spending time with whānau.
The image above looks out onto Te Whitianga-o-Kupe - the crossing place of Kupe - or Mercury Bay. In the distance is Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island), and on the back of the island are the cliffs of Parinuitera, which are said to light up like a beacon at dawn.
It was these cliffs that guided Kupe towards land, as he arrived in from the Pacific. And for the people of Ngāti Hei and Ngāti Huarere these places, people and names form a direct connection back to Taputapuatea, Rangiatea, Tahiti and Hawaiki - a link to their ancestors.
As we work through our final few days of 2015 here at Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM), we too acknowledge these ancestors and all who have gone before us.
It has been a very big year not only for NPM but for our wider community, and so we also acknowledge the ongoing contribution of our staff, researchers and network - both here in Aotearoa and overseas. We will farewell a number of these staff and salute the end of an era for NPM on 31 December, as we reach the end of our second and largest Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) contract.
2016 will bring new challenges, opportunities and programmes for the centre as we commence our new CoRE contract, but with change comes innovation and we look forward to continuing NPM's journey into the year ahead.
The NPM offices will be closed from 24th December - 5th January.
Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou!
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