Longing for the scent of rain on Great Barrier Island It's longest drought on record both for my blog-writing and for rain in Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier Island. The situation here is dire. Trees in the bush are actually dying and streams are drying up. The ground cover has faded from lush green to pale green to yellow to brown. Fire danger is extreme, especially when it’s windy. Unlike in Golden Bay, where in addition to a rainwater tank, we pumped luxuriantly from a stream and scheme water flowed from a tap, here it’s rainwater only for us and most others, for both house and garden, and those few with stream water access are also running out of water. Perhaps a handful have a bore, but even deep bores are going dry – a first here in local memory. Many people’s gardens have long since fried, as has most of the Community Gardens. The water tanker is constantly on the road, but it brings non-potable stream water. No, it hasn’t been a stress-free summer for land or people. It started with three weeks of cold gale winds, so strong I couldn’t walk straight or open the car door, and at holiday time people were kept off the beaches. Smoke and ash from the disastrous fires in Australia, that destroyed a fifth of the continent’s forest cover, blew over parts of New Zealand, darkening the skies, creating weirdly colourful sunrises and sunsets, making breathing hazardous and contaminating the water supply. Here are two scenes from Okiwi on the worst day on the Barrier, when the land and sky turned eerily red and people had to drive with lights on in mid-afternoon. And now, coronavirus, which arrived in Auckland yesterday via a passenger from Iran. The government is talking about isolating islands like Great Barrier to prevent the spread if we have a major outbreak, and people countrywide fear not only illness or even death but supply shortages for essentials like food, fuel and medicines. Some on the mainland are already panic buying. Auē! All in all, a lot for everyone to deal with. Even so, while all of this has been going on, I’ve been engaged in a wonderful array of projects, including planning for the beautiful, wise, knowledgeable and skilled Medical Herbalist Mary Allan’s second workshop here. It’s full at 20 participants, with a waiting list! The night before she’s giving a free talk on immunity in a flu epidemic. I’m also editing a book of the life stories of women who’ve lived on the Barrier all or most of their adult years, if not longer; planning and presenting Can’t Live Without Music on Sunday afternoons on Aotea FM (you can listen on livestream 3:40-6 pm – let me know your favourite music or send requests); and most notably, I've been working with my dear, precious, skilled, brilliant and giving friends Marsha and Carrie, to produce and distribute the third edition of the Wholefoods Handbook, while lovely Kelly at Unlimited Copies Golden Bay continues to support the vision with a low price and pack-and-post service, making it easy as pie to coordinate sales from here. Our intrepid neighbour We stopped in at the airport to talked to our lovely friend Eunate, who was working at the info centre. There we met Sandra, our former part-time neighbour when we were renting down the road. She and her partner have a holiday home next door to where we were. At that time she was the captain of a ship in the NZ Navy, and Cathy and Dennis Sage’s son had been on her ship! postA couple of years ago she stopped captaining to become the lead person in a study and report about New Zealand in 2040 – the coordination of all parts of the government to deal with all aspects of everything and all contingencies! There she was at the airport in jandals, and an old T-shirt and shorts, as if she’d just gotten up from some garden work, hair in a loose ponytail, chatting and smiling with us. She told us the 2040 project had just finished, and she’d get us a hard copy. Then she said, “When I get back I’ll take over as chief of staff.” “Chief of staff of what?” “Of the Navy.” It was so unexpected, and she knew it too! Lots of sparkles in our eyes and I laughed about it the rest of the day. Only in NZ, and so much for stereotypes! Her only trepidation about the new job is the commute through Auckland – an hour and a half each way. Her partner’s is two hours. She said the Navy’s biggest problem is its people! There are 2500 of them. I’m sure Sandra has what it takes to sort them all out. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse It hasn’t been the best year for post-swim extended stays at the beach, but we did get a few. We sometimes read books aloud to each other as we hang out enjoying the scene, or talk about a philosophical question. A friend loaned us this lovely book, a beautifully illustrated story of deep dialogue about friendship, kindness and self-love amongst an unlikely quartet. I copied out the essence of the questions they pondered together so Ro and I could share our thoughts on them, one by one, in our relaxing, no-distractions spot back by the dunes at Medlands. Here they are for you to consider. * What do you want to be when you grow up? * What do you think success is? * What’s your favourite saying? * What’s the biggest waste of time? * What are our greatest freedoms? * What’s the greatest kindness? * How can you be in the present? * What’s the bravest thing you could say? * When are you at your strongest? * What’s your reason to keep going? * What’s better than cake? * Nothing beats ____________. * When the dark clouds come …………. * What’s your best discovery? * What can we do when our hearts hurt? * What can we do when the big things feel out of control? The boy and his friends also shared some fresh and tasty ideas, including: everything happens on the inside, the notion that life should be perfect is an illusion, and the need for a school of unlearning. A Close Shave More than eight years after the debris flow / flood disaster in the Top of the South and Golden Bay, which propelled us to the Barrier, Film for Change have released a 20-minute film by Jacques Wisdorff and Stephanie Pages about the dangerous forestry practices that caused this terrible disaster, and others, and its impact on residents. About 15 people share their experiences and views, with a mix of emotions and facts. It was hard for us to watch, because it stirred up the old trauma, never too far beneath the surface. One traumatised person sums up the situation: “It’s incomprehensible that that can be considered appropriate land management or farming practice.” The filmmakers' goal is to raise awareness and influence decision makers to achieve greater safety. Though the film is mainly about the impacts around Marahau, Ro and I provided some information to the filmmakers. You can watch the trailer here: On Youtube: https://youtu.be/oPJ6XQsPrZU On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/filmforchange.fr/videos/453882388829734/ And the full film through this link: https://www.facebook.com/filmforchange.fr/posts/502189524038737 Stéphanie & Jacques wrote to us, "We hope that despite the time it took to make it happen, it will be helpful to the cause. Maybe it's good timing too in regard to the terrible bushfires in Australia, highlighting very real consequences of climate change, just as severe cyclones and floods can be. "If you think the cause is worth your support, feel free to share it!" Another cause, this one going well, sort of In December, Protect Aotea’s High Court appeal against the granting of consent by the Environmental Protection Agency to Coastal Resources Limited to dump 250,000 cubic metres of marine sludge off the coast of Great Barrier Island was successful - effectively squashing the decision of the EPA. But dredge-and-dump is ongoing because other consents to Ports of Auckland were non-notifiable. Protect Aotea’s current focus is to get a new legally binding policy in place with alternatives to dumping at sea. Kelly Klink of Protect Aotea says, “While we are relieved to have won the court case to prevent CRL’s appalling dumping of toxic waste sludge into our pristine marine environment, we are determined to ensure that new, environmentally sound policies are urgently put in place to ensure that less damaging alternatives to marine dumping are deployed.” Some examples are dewatering for proper disposal on land or mixing the dredged mud with sand and cement to make mudcrete. The most important cause of all! For me and Ro right now, our deepest wish, to fulfil everything we’ve believed in and longed for for decades, is for Bernie Sanders to be nominated by the Democratic party in the States and defeat Trump to become the next US president. There’s never been a candidate like Bernie, who spent his entire life fighting for the 90 percent. He’s building a grassroots movement of tens of millions to say NO to a country and a world ruled by a handful of those with billions, ill-gotten at the expense of most of the rest of us and the natural world. Bernie’s at the top of the polls now, but the media and other candidates and his own party are pounding him every way they can. In a happy future of Bernie as president, systemic change would transform the political and environmental climate, bringing in social, racial and economic justice at last, and with them, more peace and harmony. Look up Bernie, listen to what he has to say, and you’ll understand what I mean. He’s from Vermont, just across Lake Champlain from our old turangawaewae in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, just south of Montreal. He was mayor of Burlington when we lived up there, the most popular mayor in the States. In honour of Bernie I played the Vermont Waltz on my radio show. Big dune on Kaitoke Beach and views from the top Oceanview Road Kaitoke Beach to the right of the dune Palmers Beach to the far left Sights along the way Pitokuku and view from the top Claris, wetland and beyond. The orange arrow at the left points to Kaitoke Stream, where we’ve had most of our swims this summer (further upstream, where it’s nice and deep). The arrow in the middle shows the big dune, and the one on the right points to our shoebox on a sand dune. You can even see our water tank and bamboo fence. Kaikoura Island Our dear friends Sam and Eunate took the correspondence students from The Hub, where Sam teaches, on a camping weekend at Motu Kaikoura, a 564-hectare island just 80 m from the west coast of the Barrier that’s a protected sanctuary for native flora and fauna. Ruru (morepork or Tasmanian spotted owl, found throughout New Zealand and Tasmania) Sharks in Tryphena Harbour – threshers and hammerheads photographed from a drone.. A one- or two-day wonder, luckily! Bulk crops Darren (green shirt) grows beautiful potatoes, kumara and pumpkins above Palmers Beach to sell at markets and sometimes in weekly pop-up stalls. The Knewz on Aotea TV Toni and Tony (at left and right) reincarnated their weekly radio show into a fortnightly podcast to keep islanders up to date with events, local news and interviews. The first episode included a chat with Local Board chair, Izzy; a perspective on the island’s new “zero waste” system in Port Fitzroy, where non-resident boaties are leaving their rubbish for locals to deal with; what’s on on the island; and a visit with Artie of Wairahi, a longstanding boat-access-only community up north. Artie is the Aotea FM presenter who’s done the most shows. Two a week for over ten years, from way back in the early days when the station’s name was The Beach, adds up to well over 1000! It’s an absolutely brilliant show! We loved it since our first week here. You can livestream Cool Grooves and Hot Tracks on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:30-6 pm at aoteafm.org Here's Artie in his motorcycle shed. Our annual basil tub gift from Gerald and Caity You probably recognise the hill behind it, and that’s Te Ahumata to the left of Pitokuku. You’ll know your way around when you get here! Ro put a recycling bin to good use Chickweed amongst the lettuce, under shade cloth in a grow bag. oblivious to the drought Zero-Waste All-Pure Herbal Shampoo 2 cups strong herbal tea, such as nettle, chamomile, rosemary, peppermint, sage, yarrow flowers or kumarahou leaves 1 natural handmade soap, grated 1/2 t pectin (optional) – I don't use it and it gels up just fine Make a strong tea and leave to steep overnight. Next day, bring to the boil, remove from heat and add grated soap. Stir until melted (and then add pectin). Pour into jar with lid. It will set. Keep in the fridge. Scoop out with your fingers or a spoon. This batch is made with rosemary. Towel maths 4 hand towels = 1 beach towel + 2 washcloths + 4 hand towels! How the trick is done: Take four unexpectedly oversize hand towels. Ask ex-professional seamstress Margaret to cut two in half to make four close-enough-to-expected-size hand towels, to sew the other two together to make an overlong beach towel and then cut off one end of that and cut it in half to make two square washcloths. Not only that, the hand towels were organic and on sale for $5.50 each! Non-traditional roles Chris, the husband of one of the doctors, makes banjos and looks after the kids, whom he takes around on an electric bike. We first met him at Kaitoke Beach on one of their days out, and another day we stopped him on the road to get the family photo. Gifts from Jordan Everything in the pan, except the tempeh, was a gift from our generous friend's garden. New Years Picnic Selling Lava Dreams and Other Amazing Stories for the author and our calendars. We didn’t quite have the new Wholefoods Handbook ready by then. It was only the second decent outdoor day in all those weeks of wind and cold, but we still needed sand in jars to hold it all down. A funny moment at the Picnic was when the tug-of-war rope broke while the two teams were pulling for all they were worth! Everyone went tumbling down, but no one was hurt and they called it a draw. Life on the Barrier Lucia paddleboarding at Medlands To close, a wee story One afternoon at swim time we found the car battery was flat (we’d left the radio on for 24 hours!). Ro got the car started but it only made it a few metres on the road. Thus started an adventure not only in hitching but in the kindness of islanders!! Two cars stopped instantly and the guys pushed the car back into our drive. Then we thought, Can’t miss our swim, let’s hitch to Kaitoke Stream. Driving the first car was someone we knew, who took us all the way, even though he was only going less than a quarter of the way. We found perfection in Kaitoke Stream!! Nice full tide, deep, clear, salty water, peaceful and heavenly. For the return, again the first car picked us up, people we hadn’t met before, and took us home, though they weren’t going quite that far! Ro charged the battery and all was well. But before that, we’d rung Nick, the mechanic, who said if the battery was buggered, he’d loan us one until a replacement arrived. No prob! After this experience, I thought, we have nothing to worry about! I felt extra intensely good about living here, couldn’t have felt better about it! :-) I think things have settled down here now and I’ll have more time to write. Also I have a big backlog of bits I’ve written about natural phenomena here and even about talks we went to over the past few years that would have made my posts too long. Hope to use some of them in the next few. I also hope that before long I can report on good, steadily accumulating, replenishing, revitalising, blissful, blessed RAIN!!
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