Meandering along the street this morning to the bus stop, I was staring at my feet whilst I was getting my iPod out of my bag.
For the first time, I noticed all the bright red stamens that have coloured the footpaths in our street bright red.
This means two things in New Zealand – one is that summer is here. And two – is that its nearly Christmas!!
Every year, about this time, the Pohutukawa trees start to flower. And by flower, I mean burst with colour – bright red.
They line our coasts and our walkways (and our footpaths) and have become part of our Christmas traditions and a symbol of our summers.
Pohutukawa trees, and Rata trees for that matter, have been part of our traditions for many years.
Maori legends say that a young Maori warrior named Tawhaki attempted to find heaven to seek help in avenging the death of his father. He fell to earth and the crimson flowers are said to represent his blood.
A gnarled, twisted pohutukawa on the windswept cliff top at Cape Reinga, the northern tip of New Zealand, has become of great significance to many New Zealanders.
For Maori this small, venerated pohutukawa is known as ‘the place of leaping’.
It is from here that the spirits of the dead begin their journey to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki.
From this point the spirits leap off the headland and climb down the roots of the 800-year-old tree, descending into the underworld on their return journey.
I wont be leaping – or falling – from anywhere any time soon. But I do love the colour and the shape of the Pohutukawa and the meaning that this tree has for me.
