ka haere te wā, (ā), ka ...
1. as time went on, time passed and, after quite a long time - a phrase to indicate a passage of time before something happened.
I ara ake ngā maunga o Te Wai Pounamu i roto i ngā e rua miriona tau ki mua. Nā te aha, ka hikina ake ki runga aua papanga e pupuri ana i te pounamu. Ka haere te wā, ā, ka rere ngā awa me ngā awa kōpaka, ka tau ngā pounamu ki ērā wāhi (Te Ara 2017). / The mountains of the South Island rose up in the last two million years and the layers containing greenstone were lifted up. As time went on the rivers and glaciers released the greenstone in those places.
