kīhai i wheau
1. it wasn’t long, soon - used in the past tense.
Moe iho ahau i te pō, e haere ana ahau i Paekākāriki, ā, kīhai i wheau, kua tae ahau ki Pōneke. He hoa anō tōku i te ara, anō ka tae māua ki Pōneke, ka mea taku hoa kia haere māua kia kite i te Whare Pāremata (TW 26/2/1876:107) / I slept the night and then travelled on to Paekākāriki, it wasn’t long before I reached Wellington. I had a friend travelling with me, when we reached Wellington, my friend said to me, let us go and see the Parliament House.