Martinique & André

02/06/2026

Very grateful 🤍

18/05/2026

Rā whānau tōku hoa!

This is .nz ~ André’s closest friend from high school (Avondale College). Paul is one of these guys that drops things to come (with his wife ), when you need him. He’s funny and kind and has the most incredibly positive outlook on life and people.

He’s aspirational ~ trying stand up comedy, learning to dance, taking a year off mahi to go to Takiura and his mahi has always been about protecting the environment and our native taonga in Aotearoa ~ plus he’s got the metabolism of a 12 year old.

To know Paul is to love Paul, and we’re all so bloody lucky to have you.

Happy birthday e hoa, we love you ❤️

18/05/2026

Part Two ✌🏽

I knew André wouldn’t give a big reaction, and that’s not what this was about. The quiet way he let the kids wrap him in Te Awhina’s embrace was everything.

The journey of learning te reo Māori is a long and challenging one. For André this represents a part of his whānau history that’s difficult to talk about. There is shame and hurt, but he pushes forward.

We have a long way to go from whakamā to whakamana ~ but we’ve come too far to not go further.

Kua tawhiti kē tō haerenga mai, kia kore e haere tonu. He tino nui rawa o ōu mahi, kia kore e mahi nui tonu.

Ngā mihi nui to the korowai’s creator Waratah Taogaga 💙🖤💙

18/05/2026

He taonga mō tō mātou whānau 🖤💙🖤

Ngā mihi NUI to wahine toa Waratah Taogaga for creating this taonga for our whānau to celebrate André’s graduation and become an important part of our whānau traditions.

Waratah and I met over 7 years ago when we were both studying Culturally Sustaining Leadership at Auckland University as part of our teaching masters (I still haven’t finished mine), but Waratah did and has now almost completed her PhD. She’s an incredibly busy and talented person and I’m so grateful she blessed us with this taonga.

It’s been a tough few years, but we’ve made it. We keep learning and growing and being moulded into who we are meant to be.

Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa.

17/05/2026

My heart 🥹 looking at your beautiful child, knowing deeply they relate ~ a very special moment 😭

16/05/2026

Thanks for looking after this hardworking māmā *AD

15/05/2026

L&P ~ now in clear bottle ~ still yum!
*AD

15/05/2026

14/05/2026

What do you call that?

03/02/2026

First day of school 2026
Very happy māmā & dada 🩵