Presenter Wairangi Koopu's vocal chords get a proper work out in the first episode of The Road to Te Matatini, a series visiting different kapa haka groups across Aotearoa ahead of the prestigious bi-annual Te Matatini kapa haka festival. Koopu is in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland) to meet award-winning cultural group Hātea, whose specialty is waiata tira, the opening choral song in a kapa haka performance. Hātea conductor Te Aranga o Otene Hopa puts Koopu in with his bass singers, and Koopu soon appreciates how hard it is to 'stay in your lane' in a complex group vocal arrangement.