Late in March we had our annual holiday with six women friends, all of us growers and farmers. This year, our tenth get-together, Jenny and Lesley from Pokaiwhenua Tree Farm near Putaruru organised our stay in the the old homestead on Clearview Estate at Te Awanga, in Heretaunga (Hawke’s Bay). We had a comfortable house, a variety […]
There and back
April 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment
On our way to Heretaunga… …we stopped at Te Aroha in order to ride a part of the Hauraki Cycle Trail, currently running from Thames to Waihi via the Karangahake Gorge, with a branch to Te Aroha. (see http://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/ for information about this family-friendly cycle trail). Te Aroha is an attractive Art Deco township with hot […]
Our 30th Anniversary
February 19, 2015 by 9 Comments
In 1985… 30 years ago, Tanya rang Charmaine, then principal of AGGS, to book a room at the school for a “Lesbians Opposed to Waitangi Celebrations” meeting on Waitangi Day. After a chat we made a date for dinner on Friday 8 February “to share our experiences as women in leadership positions in “the system”.” And the […]
A visit to Awhitu…
February 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Friday 13 February: we set off for our first visit to the Awhitu Peninsula since leaving earthtalk@awhitu in April last year. We stayed at a favourite holiday haven – Spyve’s Cottage, right on the beachfront at Orua Bay Camp Ground. Beautiful swims morning and night for two days! We visited Alison and Steve, the owners […]
Treasures in the North
November 18, 2014 by 1 Comment
We discovered two very different treasures during a few days in Northland this month- Te Mirumiru in Kawakawa, Earth House in Peria Valley -and enjoyed special friends in a lovely landscape. Te Mirumiru… Te Mirumiru is an award-winning childcare centre in Kawakawa. Ngaati Hine have built this eco-friendly and inclusive early childhood education centre, in which 80 children – […]
Atiu Island
August 19, 2014 by 1 Comment
We’ve been lucky to spend a week of our winter on Atiu, which is a small island three-quarters of an hour’s flight north-east from Rarotonga in the southern Cook Island group. It’s a volcanic island 11 million years old, with a central plateau slowly rising from the sea, a raised fossil coral border (makatea), and a […]
Arts on Atiu
August 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
We discovered amazing artistic talents on Atiu. While chatting to an elderly couple at the local store, Nga and Paiere Mokoroa, we were invited to visit and see Nga’s exquisite heritage tivaivai (a type of patchwork quilt developed in the Cook Islands). We also visited Andrea Eimke, a German woman who set up Atiu Fibre Arts studio […]
People on Atiu
August 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
We met several interesting locals during our stay. We visited Mata Arai in her coffee plantation, and then her home, where she showed us her hand processing of the beans and served us a pikelets with a brew of freshly ground coffee. Birdman George (George Mateariki) took […]
Earthsong Eco Neighbourhood
Public Good