Hīkoi with Hana
A pre-spring event weaving words, walking and talking — nourishing all aspects of your whare tapawhā.
Join AWHI kaiako and author Hana Buchanan for a pre-spring event that weaves words, walking and talking, and will nourish all aspects of your whare tapawhā!
The event starts at AWHI (Whare Oho) where Hana will introduce the kaupapa of her book Kupu Whenua and its connection to holistic wellbeing. Delight in listening to a curated selection of toikupu — poems from her pukapuka, Kupu Whenua — as well as the kōrero that sits behind and within those words. We'll then move beyond the whare for a short hīkoi to neighbouring sites where the words, the kupu, the whenua, the land, and the tangata (Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti) will come to life!
Route & timings
We start at AWHI with an introduction and readings (up to 30 minutes), then hīkoi together (approximately 30–45 minutes) from AWHI to Kumutoto Wharf, then towards the Beehive via Lambton Quay. Our hīkoi ends outside the Cenotaph (corner Bowen St and Lambton Quay) at 12:45 pm.
Please wear comfortable shoes and bring a jacket, water bottle, and any snacks you might need!
In case of bad weather
If the weather is really terrible on the day, Hīkoi with Hana will still go ahead — all inside AWHI with our imaginations doing the walking!
Kupu Whenua
We have copies of Kupu Whenua for sale at the studio for $32. Get yours on the day if you don't have one already — and BONUS, get it signed by Hana!
Your facilitator
Hana Buchanan
Hana (Taranaki iwi, Te Ātiawa, Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika) is a tangata toikupu — poet, kaikaranga, kaitito — working from her ancestral lands in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her most recent publication, Kupu Whenua (Steel Roberts, 2026), is a collection of toikupu that takes us through mountains and waterways, layers of history, time, language and perspective — inviting a fresh look at the once familiar. Hana is also one of our most beloved CYT-200 kaiako with 25+ years of yoga and pū āio practice, deeply emphasising mātauranga Māori and the synergies between yoga and Māori ways of knowing and being.