Paddling Prince Harry joins Maori canoe crew
"That's my exercise done for the day," he said
WHANGANUI (AFP) - Britain s Prince Harry experienced Maori culture in New Zealand Thursday, joining a group of grass-skirted warriors for a canoe ride which left him "knackered".
The fifth in line to the throne helped paddle a waka, or Maori canoe, on the Whanganui River in the country s North Island.
The captain of the 12-man crew, Nick Tapa, gave Harry a specially-carved wooden paddle before they set off, telling reporters the prince was expected to pull his weight.
"He s just part of the crew, special cargo of course, but he s expected to do his share," Tapa said. "I don t think he d want it any other way."
After the 40-minute trip, upriver and against the current, Harry arrived in central Whanganui, joking that he was "knackered".
"That s my exercise done for the day," he said.
Earlier, the 30-year-old was given a full Maori welcome at Whanganui s marae, or tribal meeting house, where his arrival was heralded with a conch shell.
He then addressed local Maori in their own language, thanking them for having him.
Reverting to English, he quoted a local saying, demonstrating the importance of the waterway to locals: "I am the river, the river is me."
He said it was an "extraordinary privilege" to be invited to paddle on the river.
He then met war veterans at a memorial centre before a brief public walkabout, when one woman told him he looked just like his father.
"I m losing my hair like him too," the prince quipped.
Prince Harry will visit Auckland on Friday before departing Saturday.
The prince s trip to New Zealand follows a month-long secondment to the Australian army during which he received bush survival lessons and camped in the outback.
