Whakaari/White Island: Tears, singing, aroha and applause behind recovery mission

Friday, 13 December 2019

Grieving families congregated on the Whakatane wharf following a ceremony near Whakaari/White Island.

As the sun rises over the harbour, a huddle of women on Whakatāne's shoreline stare towards the silvery sea.

Fifty kilometres away an eight-person bomb squad is preparing to retrieve the bodies of the women's loved ones from the clutches of Whakaari/White Island.

Tour guide Tipene Maangi was one of eight people missing - presumed dead following Monday's eruption.

Ngāti Awa iwi members gathered at the wharf for karakia and waiata on Friday morning.

The hum of helicopters can be heard from the skies and the anticipation is palpable.

Families of deceased arrive back from White Island congregating inside a cordon at Whakatane wharf.

* Police release first photos of body recovery operation

Police commissioner Mike Bush confirms that the search for two bodies continues, and six have been recovered.

* Police know where six bodies are on island

* The risk of recovering bodies from the island

* Friends mourn loss of Australians killed after eruption

Before 5am, dozens of Ngāti Awa iwi members have gathered beside a flower-adorned fence to perform waiata and karakia.

Loved ones carry pictures of White Island Whakaari victims Tipene Maangi and Hayden Marshall-Inman at Whakatane wharf. The women were there to greet the victims loved ones returning after a ceremony near white island.

An emotional karanga, performed by an auntie of Maangi, fills the dawn air.

'Haere mai, haere mai,' she cries, a small white dog in tow.

'It's a glorious morning,' she later tells Stuff, as she stares seaward amid the singing and strumming of guitars. 'It is what we have been waiting for.

'We are hoping the Whakaari lets us on to bring our baby home.

'Everyone wants them home.'

She doesn't want to talk about her nephew - not until he's back with his whānau.

A steady trickle of people visit the brightly adorned fence at the wharf's cordon, stopping to leave a posy of flowers or read handwritten messages stuck to the wiring.

'The tragedy that has unfolded here breaks our hearts,' one message says, going on to beseech the Whakaari to release the victims to police.

'We've heard your cry,' the letter says.

Barb Phillips of Ngāti Awa hoped the singing would help a 'hurting' town.

'Spiritually you can feel it and it is everywhere,' she says.

Almost 50 kilometres away, the grieving families of those left on the volcano watch the island from the sea as a rāhui is lifted.

The ceremony, and being so close to the island was 'magic', says Mark Inman, brother of Hayden-Marshall Inman, a tour guide killed by the eruption.

Back on land, the families congregate behind a fenced area as police announce they've arrived on the simmering volcano.

Mourners file in to the spot, tearfully clutching balloons and flowers. One woman bears two framed photographs. They cry and clutch each other as they're briefed by authorities.

Whakatāne Mayor Judy Turner cries as she leaves the throngs of bereaved families. As a woman pats her back and guides her towards a car, she politely declines to speak with media.

Dabbing red-rimmed eyes and holding one another, mourners head into Mataatua Marae for kōrero and kai.

By midday, the tension disperses.

The marae fills with clapping and sighs of relief as families hear that six bodies have been recovered, freed from the threat of a volcanic tomb on the island.

'They've got their loved ones coming home,' Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha told media.

From a grassy patch next to the cordon, a trio of local fisherman have been watching the harbour for days, armed with a telescope. They've watched hundreds of people lay flowers and stare out to the sea. Like many locals, they speak of the 'sad atmosphere' hanging over the beach town.

With the rāhui in place - meaning they're unable to fish for their tea - there's little else to do but watch and wait.

'It's not that we don't respect it though,' Anthony Hudson says, rolling a cigarette. 'We put some ribbon down [at the cordon] for respect.'

Kevin Puha says he's barely eaten since the deadly eruption.

'But I'm not waiting for the fish, I'm waiting for the people.

'If that was my family I would have been out there. I would have stolen a boat and went out and got my family.'

The trio were used to seeing White Island Tour guides - mostly Hayden Marshall-Inman - there during the days.

They were all friendly blokes, who always showered attention on Buddy, a dog sprawled underneath a tree.

'We used to talk to them every day.'