Hawaiian lei spanning more than a kilometre arrives in Christchurch

March 25, 2019

Thousands of flowers have been left at the Al Noor Mosque, including a giant lei from Hawaii that arrived today.

There were more emotional scenes outside the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch today as a massive tribute of flowers arrived from Hawaii.

The giant lei was placed on the mosque gate by a delegation from Hawaii.

The lei of aloha, flown here under strict quarantine, was hand-platted in Hawaii from sacred ti leaves. It spans more than a kilometre long.

The lei will be split into pieces and placed at mosques - with emergency services, Christchurch Hospital, the justice precinct and Ngāi Tahu also gifted a part of it.

The floral carpet, which has become a voice for the grieving, grows by the day as talk turns to what will eventually happen to the tributes.

Botanic Gardens Director Wolfgang Bopp says the flowers may be scattered in mosque grounds.

“The thought is to maybe compost the flowers and then work with the Muslim community to put the compost in the mosque gardens,” he says.

There are plans to scan and photograph cards and messages, but not yet - which has worried some with rain forecast for this week

“It's so important for people who haven’t seen them yet and want to, so we can’t take them away," says Mr Bopp. "If they get wet, they get wet, it's only water.”

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