From the moment walking in and meeting all that was there was like family we hadn't seen for sometime. Massive greetings from the host, Kia Ora, welcome, find yourself a place to sit all with big smiles. We started off by introducing ourselves, where we were from, and our interests. Firstly I would like to thank my daughter for the Christmas present that made this happen so I could attend. We watched a clip on how Pounamu came about. Then we chose our Marama and toggle. From here we went to work with a couple of stones to make our shape, then 4 different grades of sandpaper to help fine tune the smoothness of our Marama Taonga then finally polishing it up to the smoothness of how it is now. I would like to also thank Laura and Isabella for there patience in trying to teach us the final stage of making the lashing. I can't wait to try to make another creation. Looking at all the Marama Taonga's it would be fair to say, mine was the finest of them all. Once again thank you to the hosts in doing such a great job.

Such a wonderful experience. Seeing something transform from shape to beautiful piece. Great and very helpful tutors. Fully recommend

From the moment you arrive, you are whanau. Learning the pūrākau of pounamu enriches the journey, respect and pleasure of working with tino taonga under the expert guidance of Maha and Laura. Every workshop I have done with Maha and Laura has enabled me to build my kete of skills and knowledge, and create special pieces for whanau (and myself).