Tales of Panapa (The Mountain Fairies / The Floating Island)

Composed by Gary Daverne and narrated by David Weatherly with the Auckland Aotea Art Ed Choir. Co-writers are Phil Mark and Rosemary Cranswick.

'Tales of Panapa' is based on a legend, telling of the need for sacredness and respect when using our environment.

In The Mountain Fairies, Panapa is a wise old village elder who tends the sick and elderly of his village with a special Fairy Juice, which comes from a vine growing in the mountain forests. These forests are the domains of the Mountain Fairies and they will only allow Panapa to cut the vines to get the Fairy Juice if he says a very special chant.

One day, Panapa takes a village boy, Te Pou to the mountain with him to collect Fairy Juice. Whilst Panapa, having said the chant, was collecting Fairy Juice, Te Pou wandered off on his own and started slashing at the Fairy Juice vines. From then on, things went terribly wrong for Panapa and Te Pou.

The Floating Island is a tale about Panapa, the wise old village elder and a young girl called Rona, who had an unusual dream about a floating island. The people of the village would not believe her dream.

Dreams are not always what they seem.