1.Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori: The Māori Language Moment

This month’s  most creative event  in Aotearoa   was undoubtedly Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori:   This year,Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori , the Māori Language Commission, decided to celebrate Māori language Week in a new way because of Covid-imposed limitations.  Their goal was to encourage one million New Zealanders to sign up to […]

2. Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori

The Maori Language Moment signalled the beginning of Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori , our annual Maori Language Week, which was celebrated in a variety of ways. The media… All media made special efforts to highlight te reo this week.  It was great to listen to fluent te reo on radio, to watch a […]

3. Keeping in touch..

Over the last few years we two have  developed some favourite activities to help us  understand our changing country: an hour or two each morning listening to Dale Husband on Radio Waatea (603 AM)- his news and interviews from 7.15am onwards include a wide range of Māori contributors.  Dale is always thoughtful, courteous and informative, […]

5. Reflections on Institutional Racism

  While we celebrate the progress being made in reclaiming te reo Māori, and the many exciting Māori projects which are enriching  us all, we are also deeply concerned about the depth of institutional racism  which undermines justice and equality in Aotearoa. The most recent public challenge to institutional racism has come from  senior and […]

August News and Views..

    This month we’ve experienced an Auckland Lockdown, pre-Election Politics, a Climate Change event, some Celebrations…and Spring is on its way here with Tanya’s photos of a burst of magnolia blooms in Grey Lynn… and a celebratory bike ride by Tanya into the West… (past Western Springs, through the Te Atatu Bike tunnel, to […]

Lockdown/Rahui  again…

We’re in Level 3 for 12 days because of a new cluster of Coronavirus cases detected  in Auckland City,  and  since  a few cases in Tokoroa and Rotorua.  The whole country has been put into Level 2:  https://covid19.govt.nz/covid-19/alert-system/alert-level-2 Here in Auckland, we feel for the smaller shops and cafes that can’t afford to become delivery […]

Elections 2020

The Prime Minister has chosen to delay the every-three-year Aotearoa election from 19 September to 17 October 2020 to provide a full month  for all the parties to launch and explain their policies. We both feel very lucky that we have a Prime Minister who is so highly competent and reassuring, and a Director-General of […]

Celebrations..

Tanya’s 75th birthday We managed special outings for Tanya’s birthday-she turned 75 on Sunday 16 August.  On her birthday, we climbed her childhood maunga, Ohinerau (goddess of whirlwinds), previously known as Mount Hobson, with magnificent 360 degree views over Tāmaki Makaurau and the two harbours.  We also discovered the newish walkway (previously a wild impenetrable […]