GO THE KIWIS

Who would have thought that there were so many people in Makarska who have lived in NZ, have family there, or with some sort of NZ roots? They all came out of the woodwork last night.

I told you that that Kralj Tomislav Cultural group was due to perform with the Wellington Kapa Haka group – the paper didn’t give many details, except that date that they were due to perform (they even got that wrong, bit of confusion).

When the New Zealanders started hitting town, the details were filled in. The Kralj Tomislav group is from the Henderson Croatian Club and is lead by a guy who was one of the main dancers in the Lado group which I watched a few weeks ago. The Waipera Trust was to have provided a kapa haka group to combine into a spectacular performance – sadly they pulled out, and so the Wellington group were invited to join them.

We arrived early so that we could stand in the front row – I looked around and recognized the NZ lady from the bus station, the lady from Brela who lived in NZ for years, the rowing coach behind me from NZ, and some young people who had arrived on a cruise that afternoon and spotted the NZ flag. A crowd thick with Kiwis of all persuasions!

The minute the conch shell started blowing my eyes filled with tears – the lady from the bus station turned to me and we burst out laughing – her eyes were filled with tears too. Is it just us that are moved by the sound of the beautiful sound of Maori song? I’m not affected by the sound of the bagpipes, but the Scottish are – is it the same thing?

The Croatian cultural group was fantastic but for those around me it was the Wellington group that stole our hearts.

The weather forecast had been predicting rain all day, and as promised, down it came 10 minutes into the evening, gently at first and then more determinedly – people stayed and applauded until it became ridiculous and the electrical equipment was at risk at which point the concert was brought to a premature end.

At the end it was just the damp eyed damp clothed Kiwis standing there. And the rain made it difficult to gather with the groups to congratulate and catch up with people and play connections. Makarska is a fine weather town.

There is a repeat performance on Sunday night in a hotel in Tucepi – I will be there for that one.

And well done to the two Samoan guys who sang the klapa – fantastic voices, fantastic performances endorsed by a klapa member standing near us. Neither of these two men have any Croatian roots but they sang as though the sentiments in the songs were their own.

Proud to be a Kiwi!!