Happy New Year from GBI! Here on Great Barrier, the summer “high” season has been over for a few weeks. We discovered that it's less than a fortnight – Boxing Day to the end of the second weekend in January – and the increase in people on the island wasn’t anywhere near what all the talk led us to believe it would be. Compared to Golden Bay, it was minor as! To people here, it seems, an increase in rental cars from next-to-none to some, a few more cars pulling boats on the roads, and a few families on the beach, their kids playing on their boards in the surf, seems like a big invasion! After early January, Oceanview Road was again deserted and quiet. Our favourite observation was what we didn’t see or hear: not one jet ski (our bane in Golden Bay) or donut, just one waterskier, and no boats speeding noisily and aimlessly back and forth or in circles. Love it! We got this email from one of the lovely holidaymakers who’ve stayed next door. “We had a wonderful time in Great Barrier, friendly people, everyone connected to the weather, which is good to see. It’s kind of Jurassic, like some stone age dinosaur is likely to emerge from the trees. It’s been abused in the past, but it’s healing very, very well and you locals and even the people who choose to have a holiday house seem mostly to be great custodians. There is a certain type of person attracted to its rugged charm.” A small typhoon that formed about 700 km away in the South Pacific pushed big waves to the eastern coast of GBI for nearly two weeks as it weakened and slowly approached North Island, dissipated and moved away. Even the boldest swimmers declared it unswimmable. Luckily the island's a great barrier!, and the west side has been flat as a pikelet! It’s the long days of summer, so we can head over to too-picturesque-to-be-true Blind Bay whenever the tide is within a few hours either side of high and the wind isn't coming from the west. Just looking at this photo of Blind Bay, you know it's a westerly. If Blind Bay is too rough, there's Kaitoke Stream, a nice wide river that flows out of the wetland and into the sea. We swim perhaps 500 metres from its mouth, where its depth and current fluctuate with tides and rainfall. It's usually a mellow flow and plenty deep. Unlike most recent summers, this one has had some decent rain. Everyone’s happy that their tanks were filled and their gardens got some good waterings. Here’s Kaitoke Beach after 100 mm of rain. Two streams entering the beach created a big shallow lake on the north end, leaving just a narrow peninsula of sand before the waves. The rain transformed the New Years Picnic, which is the longest-running annual event here – about 40 years!, always on 2 January. It’s a fundraiser for the Aotea Family Support Group (like the Golden Bay Community Workers), usually an idyllic afternoon on a huge lawn by the sea with shady trees, with lots of fun outdoor activities in addition to music, stalls, a raffle and an auction. This year it was at the Claris Sports Club, a large community hall, with four marquees outside so there’d be room for everyone, while the rain came down outside on a cool and breezy day. We had a wee stall to give away thank you cards and thank you postcards! It was a great way to spend the day – making people smile! Everyone who entered the marquee brightened up as we handed them a card, saying, Would you like a thank you card? And then we explained what it was. We had longer conversations with some people and what they said in praise of gratitude was amazing. From our small sample, we can say that a lot more gratitude than we realised is being consciously practiced in New Zealand, and those who haven’t thought about it much are very open to the idea! Here’s Ro with three of Gerald and Caity’s WWOOFers at Okiwi Passion holding their thank you cards and postcards. This photo, not mine, is of the beach at Harataonga, the setting of the 2000 film Cast Away (remember Wilson, the soccer ball?). The beach is a ten-minute walk, including crossing a rocky stream and a wide estuary stream, from a large DOC campground in one of the most beautiful settings we ever saw! You can see why it’s a safer beach than some of the others on the ocean side, though the day we were there, in our early days here, the swells were, as we call them, substantial. This beach is at the end of a winding unsealed road, so we’ll next be there when my fabulous son and daughter-in law, Paul and Mary, visit for three weeks next month!!! It’s the last beach before the road heads around the mountains to the northern part of the island. Here's the Claris Airport (note the solar panels and hot water collector on the roof), where Paul and Mary will be arriving via Auckland from Oakland, California, the guest accommodation of a friend at Medlands Beach, where they’ll be staying, and one of the walkways onto the beach. Here are some of the views in North Barrier (taken by someone we know here) that we’ll be seeing with them: east coast, Hirakimata (highest point), Whangapoua Beach and Arid Island from Whangapoua Beach.
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Our Thank You stall at the New Years Picnic Originally a message to Melanie Mayell of The Thank You Project www.thecreatrix.co.nz/thankyou-project It was exactly what we hoped it would be, even better! What a wonderful way to spend a day – making people smile! Even if it wasn’t an idyllic afternoon on a huge lawn by the sea with shady trees! Instead it was in a large community hall, plus four marquees so there’d be room for everyone, while the rain came down outside on a cool and breezy day. The “Well-Being Area” was in one of the marquees. We were a bit disappointed at first to be separate from the main hall, but it worked out brilliantly. We were just across from one of the entrances to the hall and right by the entrance to the marquee, so we were able to offer a thank you card to everyone who came in. Every single person but one took one and had a wee chat with one of us about what it is. The one who didn’t take it was just as nice as everyone else, but he said he likes to keep it simple with a smile and eye contact, and those could also be passed on. Children were especially eager to get one and think of how they’d use it. You could see their minds at work. Some had ideas already; others were going to wait for the first opportunity. We had longer conversations with some people and what they said in praise of gratitude was amazing. You might be surprised at all the gratitude being consciously practiced in New Zealand and the receptivity of others who haven’t thought about it much! One guy said that on New Years Eve his family had a “gratitude circle” to share what they were grateful for. Others said they have some kind of daily practice of being thankful or that they’re mindful about showing their gratitude. It seemed more natural for some and more new to others. The ones for whom it was new said it’s a wonderful idea and they would try to be more aware. One guy who went away happy with his card said, It’s not something I do every day. I found that poignant, as if you and us had given him a deeper sort of gift. Someone else was thrilled to have a Thank You postcard to send to Barrier Air, who had looked after his elderly father with special care on his return flight after a visit here. He’d been thinking an email was too impersonal. Everyone was pleased and surprised that we were simply giving nice things away! Every single person brightened up and smiled as we handed them the card as we said, Would you like a Thank You card? We offered them more if they thought they’d use them, as well as postcards. Of course everyone said THANK YOU! Some asked where it all comes from and we told them about you and the Thank You Project. We pointed out your website and facebook page on the cards to most people.
About the gift packs. The event was the annual fundraiser for the Aotea (Great Barrier Island) Family Support Trust. We gave one to the organiser to use as a raffle prize or auction item. Ro and I had donated some other items – a Loving What Is booklet (by Byron Katie), a Wholefoods Handbook, and an Every Day’s a Celebration calendar. They were all put together as one auction item. We kept the other gift pack at the table and some people were very interested in the books. One woman spent a very long time oohing and ahhing at the photos and reading the quotes and sharing them with others. She wanted to buy it, but I said we weren’t selling it. It really seemed she would treasure it and I offered it to her. She was very happy and grateful. You might be hearing from her. Another woman told me she works in schools with the Virtues Project www.virtuesproject.com/education.html. I said the Love Letters idea could be used in classrooms and I offered the book to her, but I asked her to come back at the end of the festival so I could keep showing it to others. Later I told two beautiful young sisters about the idea and they looked at the book very intently. They even read some of it aloud to me! I wanted to give it to them, but I said I’d already offered it to someone else. But the first person never returned. That book and some of the cards and more of the postcards are all that’s left. We’d like to keep everything here to use at future opportunities. I’ll transfer the money to you tomorrow. I strongly recommend that you encourage other people to have a stall at a local event. It’s a great way to get the thanks circulating. This festival had visitors from all over NZ so the cards will begin their journeys from many different locations. Above are photos of the poster for the event as it was meant to be, and Ro (on the left) and some happy people holding their cards and postcards (unfortunately taken before I unwrapped the gift pack). Below is a photo of the stall later. So, THANK YOU, MELANIE, for originating this beautiful project and making it all possible for us today. I’m really glad I woke up one morning with the idea of a Thank You Stall!! |
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