Keep Me Swimming – springtime sunshine on GBI Transformation I’ve been absorbed in editing the last book in Ray Parkes’ beautiful and inspiring Rayman trilogy. I edited the first one about eight years ago and the second about five years ago. I’m very sad to leave this special world, a world of harmony, goodness, creativity, real magic, and personal and community potential. The people in the Rayman’s world have never known or experienced anything dark or harmful. Imagine! Can you? No wonder I don’t want to leave! It’s a warm and deeply felt place to be – as Ray says, a glimpse of where humanity is heading, and I wish it would come soon. Find out more at therayman.naturalportal.co.nz Is there life out there? That’s the question the Awana Rural Women set out to find answers to when they planned this year’s Small Island Big Ideas symposium. The day of interactive learning included break-out sessions with the invited experts in the morning and early afternoon, and then a panel discussion followed by Q & A. Meet the panel. Steve Pointing of Auckland University of Technology is an expert in microbes in extreme places. His topics: What is life? Where did it come from? How do microbes survive in extreme places? Dr Faith Vilas, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, spoke on the search for life amongst the stars. On the left is panel moderator Professor Tim Mulgan, head of the philosophy department at Auckland University At the centre is Wellywood resident Gino Acevedo, director of creative arts at Weta Digital. New Zealanders will understand what I’m getting at! These are the folks who created visual effects in the blockbuster films The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Avatar, The Adventures of Tintin, King Kong, Independence Day: Resurgence, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and many more. His topic was "aliens and the human imagination”, though I think the audience was more interested in the ever-advancing digital techniques! The story of his follow-your-dreams journey from very modest beginnings to his current moviedom heights was equally fascinating! On the right is the cheeky “Catholic Astronomer” (the name of his blog) Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory, whose theme was the relationship between faith and science. We had brief chats with each of the panel members afterwards. Turns out Guy's mother went to the same university in northern New York State where Ro and I got our masters degrees! Guy was interviewed on Radio New Zealand, and I would have loved to send the link, but Kim Hill being Kim Hill, she was more concerned with backing him into corners than having a deep discussion about the big questions, so we deemed it not worth recommending. The event itself was covered by TV3, the Herald and the Sunday Star Times. The panelists’ conclusion: Life is out there and it will be found within 20 years. It might only be microbes, but it’s there! 32 lucky people able and willing to pay $60 got to continue these fascinating conversations at dinner with the experts, who changed tables between courses! Each year the Awana Rural Women achieve a small miracle. They attract the highest calibre speakers in their fields from New Zealand and far beyond, and organise all the sessions at the heart of the event, as well as venues, transport, accommodation, meals, publicity and fundraising! Scrupulously planned, thought-provoking educational events like these would be valuable to people anywhere, but they’re especially important for remote communities far from cities where numerous learning experiences are on offer year round. It’s estimated that a full quarter of the island’s population attended. These events are mentally stimulating opportunities to learn about and consider specialised information in a context that’s both scientific and philosophical, providing fresh and fascinating ideas for reflection, discussion with others, further investigation and ultimately personal growth as well as community cohesion. Cool, eh? Auckland Astronomical Society and Dark Sky Accreditation ASA members also spoke to the crowd and led stargazing session in the evening with a telescope they brought over. They’ve been doing ‘proof of concept’ light readings on the Barrier for possible dark sky accreditation. Even on a poor night, the island skies have very little light pollution, so on physical and technical grounds we should have no trouble getting serious accreditation. They said the application won’t require islanders to make any changes. The skies are very clear and very dark, and we're not getting street lights any time soon. A spin-off from the big event was the formation of a night sky interest group, which more than 80 people signed up for. The ASA donated a telescope! The group’s convenor said that since the event, a number of enthusiasts have purchased their own, so the Barrier may have the highest number of telescopes for its population in the country. He sent this useful introduction to naked eye stargazing. Though based on Barrier conditions, it’s applicable to Golden Bay and other lucky low-light-pollution areas. A profound conversation We had an amazing experience a few weeks ago that filled my mind for days. We had occasion to spend 2 1/2 hours visiting with Charlie and Winnie Blackwell at their dining table. Both are 80, both lived on the Barrier all their lives, and both are from original settler families. Charlie is sixth generation Blackwell; Winnie is fifth generation Medland. They’ve been together 59 years, sharing all those decades of hard work managing a huge farm and a family. It was a natural, fun and honest sharing as we all discovered how much we have in common, despite our very different backgrounds. By the end, we loved them as if we’ve been friends for years, and we all exchanged good feelings and hugs. You might think, as I did, that Winnie’s life experience has been limited by her limited geography. How wrong I was! What struck me so deeply was her profound understanding of the world, her true humanist philosophy and her wise and caring perspective on human relationships. Despite their Barrier pedigrees, life has not been easy for them. They’ve weathered tragedy and they’re facing serious health problems and severe financial strain. Yet they retain a beautiful warmth, humour and kindness towards others and each other. “A Taste of Summer" One day when we returned to our car after our swim, Colin, one of the local beekeepers, was waiting for us. His four-wheeler had broken down on a track up to one of his apiaries, and he needed a lift home. His home isn’t far out of our way, perhaps 4 or 5 km return, but when we got there he saw fit to thank us by going into his shed and bringing out a 2 kg container of honey! Here he is loading drums of honey headed for North Island. We’ve often been recipients of islanders' generosity, notably with lemons, grapefruits and fish, and we're zipping through thank-you cards and cacao bars to express our gratitude! Chitchat A great island connector is the Barrier Chitchat facebook page, a public group now at 735 members, for discussion of Barrier issues, notices, and selling or seeking items. Purple Pages and Julia I forgot to mention a homey touch in the local phone directory. Because landline numbers on GBI all start with 4290 only the last three digits are listed in the directory. It’s something “525" and “524" Golden Bay people can relate to! Julia Sich, the Woman Who Eats Weeds, kindly sent me some photos of her second workshop to replace the ones I didn’t take! You can sign up for her fascinating newsletter at her website: juliasedibleweeds.com and get inspired to start observing and using the nutrition-packed weeds all around us! A flourishing patch of plantain, cleavers and creeping mallow. It’s been wet! Lots of people say it was the wettest September they can remember. The grass in the backyard was so lush Charlie's cows couldn’t resist! Keep Me Singing Yum! Two weeks ago Van the Man came out with his 36th studio record! We’ve been in love with his music from the early days of Astral Weeks, Moondance and Tupelo Honey right on through to this very moment, savouring to the point of incorporating to our very core every one of his albums. Keep Me Singing is already his highest charting of them all! This year our beloved songwriter, poet, singer and musician, whose sublime gifts seem otherworldly, was knighted and turned 71! Channel Rock We had our first sighting of Channel Rock on our ferry crossing from Auckland to Great Barrier Island in March last year, the final leg in our move north, the trip that turned from the relaxed-paced transition we’d planned from the familiar to the unfamiliar, to a rushed and exhausting marathon after a cyclone caused the postponement of our Picton to Wellington ferry. This big hunk of stone soon became a familiar sight from almost everywhere we go on west coast of the island. Barbara C photographed the coast and the rock on her return flight with Judith after their April visit. And here’s the Coromandel and Channel Rock under a faint rainbow, in the distance from Blind Bay, .
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