Tia Woods - Teatuarui woods 2007. 2 Newzealand Auckland
Kim Sang Soo photo


From Tia - Hey kim, I just started writing brief about my childhood so far. I still have to keep emailing alot more to you! thank for this opportunity! regards, Tia Woods
My dad, Stephen Woods, New Zealander meet my mum, Moana Cuthers in Rarotonga, Cook Islands while dad was holidaying over there. My dads background is New Zealand and English while my mum is Cook Island and Tahitian. My dad basically fell in love with mum and together they flew to New Zealand where my dad lived, Hamilton. My dad was a dairy farmer, milking cows with my grandpa. Mum and dad were typical young lovers, they didn have much but they were madly in love. My eldest brother, Rangi Woods was born on the 25 of march 1987. I was born on May 29th 1990. Mum gave birth to me at the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton round 3am. My parents named me Teatuarui Elizabeth Woods. My name is obviously a tounge twister originated from the Cook Islands. I remember all my dads family would struggle to pronounce my name being English, but my mums family being cook island could easily pronounce my name. I was born jaundice and I needed as much sunlight as possible, but May was a winter month so it was difficult to stick me in sunlight if it was always foggy and raining. I was a healthy baby, I think I looked really ugly as a baby, as most babies do. My dad said I was a messy baby, threw my food at the walls, always crying and often when no one was watching I be off in a little adventure disappearing from mum and dad. Dad would always do the runner and ruin the fun adventure or running away . A year later my mum gave birth to my sister Naria-Jane Woods born 16th of May 1991. That when all hell broke out. Me and my sister were two brats known as the ah wah girls? because we cried far too often. Naria was the cute baby, she had curly fair hair, a cute husky voice and chubby cheeks while I had sprouts of hair on my head making me look almost far too bald. Together me and my sister were trouble. My mum and dad got married on the 16th of May 1992 in Rarotonga, Cook Islands and also held a wedding ceremony back home in New Zealand. They decided to have two ceremonies for the Woods family and mums relatives that lived back home in New Zealand. Then a ceremony in Raro for all of mums family and friends. My mum became Moana Woods. My parents came back to Hamilton, New Zealand to settle down with us three kids and we lived on the farm in a little farm house cottage in Koromatua, just out of Hamilton city, where other farmers farmed. The cottage was so cute, it had so much character and was surrounded with acres and acres of green land and cows. (1)