the Idle Deedes

In our last 24 hours or so we had a farewell picnic on the beach with some of our new friends, and then our lovely neighbour Liz offered to look after Catherine and Hugh while we walked round the headland. In fact, she said we were not allowed to leave the area until we had done this particular walk! And we were clambering over the rocks pretty briskly, with the plane leaving in a few hours, and the house still to be tidied...... read more

One of the main things we'll miss when we go home will be the beautiful Ohiwa Harbour. We look out across it from our house, high up a hill. We drive past bits of it wherever we go. we have kayaked on it, eaten oysters from it, fished in it, paddled in it, watched birds on it, and it generally feels like a part of our lives. It's not how I would imagin a harbour - high walls with boats tied up; it's a tidal inlet of the Pacific, with a narrow mouth that then opens out into several square miles of water. It is constantly changing with the tide, and it includes conservation areas such as a salt marsh or islands that are like nature reserves.... read more

You can only learn so much about a country in three months. But from what we've seen, New Zealanders seem to love their country in a much more uncomplicated way than the British. It is also a place where human settlement is comparatively recent, and so most of the history of people living here is known about, at least through verbal history. One of the crucial stages was the arrival of canoes ('waka') from Pacific islands to the North East, as part of a deliberate migration, bringing animals, seeds, etc. that would be needed. Genealogy is important in Maori culture and there is pride in being able to trace your family history ('whakapapa') back to the particular canoe your ancestors arrived on. Hugh and Catherine have enjoyed some brilliant museums where all this is explained and ... read more

We've had one wet and one dry day here in Auckland. Yesterday we went up the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern hemishpere, which we can see from the window of the YHA. It's a great way to see the city if you don't have long to look around it. We watched people doing skydiving from the tower, Catherine thinks she'd like to do it, but the rest of us were happy to drink coffee and watch others. We got our moneys worth out of our visit to the Maritime museum, in fact we returned today to see more of the galleries and exhibits. On our way to Auckland we had a sociable couple of days visiting friends or relatives of friends and receiving excellent kiwi hospitality in both Tauranga and Whiritoa beach. Tomorrow ... read more

A hangi is a traditional Maori feast, usually for a special occasion. Waiotahi School, a lovely, laid back rural school, do it to show children how it happens, and we were lucky to meet a family who invited us to the school hangi last week. A circular pit is dug, a little over a metre across, and a log fire is lit next to it. Rocks are heated on the fire for an hour or two, and when hot enough they are put into the hole. Then large lumps of meat are lowered on in crates, followed by vegetables. These are covered over with a large metal drum (lower left of photo) - traditionally this would be leaves - and left to be cooked by the hot rocks for a few hours. Then the cover is ... read more