Go the Naki!

I'd like to introduce you to the province where we live:  Taranaki.  

There is an especially strong feeling for Taranaki right now because the professional Taranaki rugby team just won the national championship.  

Go the Naki!

Oak at the game.  Noah and friends in the background.  

We live in New Plymouth, which is the biggest town in the region called Taranaki.

Taranaki, on the North Island of New Zealand

What's a 'Naki boy?

Within days of arriving in New Plymouth, I attended a funeral for a teenage boy held at New Plymouth Boys' High School.  The teenager seemed like an outstanding young man who had died from a complication of a staph infection.  At the funeral, his mom told a story about watching her son ski at the NZ national ski finals.  In the middle of an amazing ski run, she heard people around her asking who that kid was, but before she could answer, someone else from the stands answered, "Oh, he's a 'Naki boy." As if that explained everything.

This mother used that phrase - "He's a 'Naki boy" - as the basis for her speech about her son, telling the audience about how he exemplified the best of Taranaki: the skiing and surfing, the love of the outdoors, the lack of complaining, the enjoyment of family, the warmth toward other people and the land.  

Taranaki Hardcore

Taranaki Hardcore paraphernalia is one outward sign of Taranaki pride.  

People of all ages sport Taranaki Hardcore car stickers and clothing.  In our family, Danny loves his Taranaki Hardcore hoodie.

Mount Taranaki, the symbol of Taranaki

Mike took this picture on his way to work at an outlying hospital

I felt proud to be from Cache Valley, UT in a similar way that people are proud to be from Taranaki:  It's off the beaten path, so people don't usually come here unless there's a reason.  There's a certain amount of respect for people who deal with the slightly more extreme climate.  (Taranaki is on the wet side of the island.)  There isn't very much shopping available, and that means less focus on materialism or on looks.  Both counties have one town surrounded by a lot of farming country.

One difference between Taranaki and Cache Valley farming communities is how many boys drop out of school here to shear sheep, start a dairy herd, or begin some other hands-on profession.  Noah says that we'd be amazed at how many of the boys in his top-stream classes choose this instead of going to uni.  

Go the Naki!

Pictures from the finals game, which was held last Friday

The Pitch Invasion when the game was won

During the pitch invasion, somebody used coconut-tree-climbing techniques to climb nearly to the top of one of the goal posts.

The Tenderlinks Team.  The boys' YM's president in lower RH (Sione)

You can see some other pictures of Sione earlier this year here.  

Mike at the game.  A "try" is a touchdown in rugby

Go the Naki!

We feel very grateful to be living in Taranaki.  

Book of the week:  

We enjoyed this audiobook in the car.