Bright red pohutukawa, hot black sand on GBI Half and Half That’s my new radio show on Aotea FM, the Barrier’s community radio station. It’s “the only solar powered radio station in the world – that we know of”, but what really powers it is the volunteer presenters, who fill the weekly schedule. To get ready for my first big day on air, I had a training session with Kathy, the station coordinator. Then that lovely sweetheart Sam G invited me to bring some music as a guest on his world music show, El Quinto Pino. Kathy stayed around for the first half hour of my first show. From the next show onward, I was on my own. My original idea was “Evenings of Beauty”, two hours of classical music. But the training was on a weekday morning, when people here expect something other than classical! So I prepared an hour of songs with special meaning to me, and after I’d done it, I thought, this is great fun! So I decided on half and half – the first hour a mix of all sorts that I love, with some by friends – including Purple, Francis and Lethea from Golden Bay, and Denya and Roy from the States, and plenty of generous helpings of Van Morrison. The second hour is my favourite classical pieces, though I won’t get very far with classical in one hour a week! It’s a buzz to plan the show and share my favourite music with whoever’s listening. A real perk is listening on the good quality headphones in the studio! You can livestream Half and Half on Thursday evenings, 7-9 pm, at https://www.aoteafm.org Let me know your favourite song and I’ll play it for you sometime! Sign language input in second language learning What’s that got to do with Great Barrier Island? It’s the very interesting subject of the most recent thesis I’ve been editing by a Japanese master’s degree student under the supervision of my friend Reiko, whose dissertation I edited in Tuscon many years ago. This is Naomi in Reiko's office with some of her chapters. Happily, editing often becomes friendship (some of the thesis writers visited us in Golden Bay!), and my correspondence with Naomi has been among the warmest and most rewarding. I even played her favourite song on my radio show, and she took a video of her thanking me and posted it on the Aotea FM facebook page, where it got over 100 views. I sent a photo of a pohutukawa, the New Zealand Christmas tree, and she sent one of cherry trees that she took last spring. She told me about the beautiful yakusugi tree (Japanese cedar), that can live for a millennium (or even two!) and “see the whole change of the world”. They live only above 500 metres on the island of Yakushima in southernmost Japan. Naomi also wrote about a year-end party she helped organise for multicultural people in her hometown of Kasai. Kasai’s population is 47,000, including 1,000 foreign workers and their families. She said Japan is always short of young blue-collar workers and hires ever more foreigners, but they’re not given enough education and support. She wrote, “To live in a great harmony, we often have parties and culture exchange events. I think they are well involved in our society. We meet, eat, talk, joke, and sometimes travel. But the most necessary thing is language” and the government doesn’t offer enough classes. “Indonesians live near my house and they call me mom and I call them sons. It’s a sweet relation between two different nations. They still have sort of sweet humanity that many people are forgetting. I learn a lot from them. “I’ve been working for this since 2007. This is part of my life.” Along with all this happy correspondence, we also managed to get some work done! Naomi’s research found that accompanying speech with sign language is indeed effective in the retention of new words in a second language. Dennis! Out of the blue once again, up to our deck walked our Golden Bay friend Dennis, the one we always heap thanks upon for encouraging us to check out Great Barrier Island when we were planning to leave the Bay. After a few days on the island seeing old friends, including a visit and a lunch with us, Dennis was on his way again. Tablemats! Years ago in a “chance” phone conversation, someone in Golden Bay, a guy by the name of Joshua Tree, who I don’t think I ever even met, gave me a bit of useful information that he has no idea I’ve put to use many times: It’s easy to make photo collages using PowerPoint. Here are the four tablemats I made, with photos from the zillions we’ve taken on the Barrier, that Kelly at Unlimited Copies laminated, just like in the old days, and posted to us for holiday gifts and sales at the Santa Parade and New Years Picnic. Coop lunch Members of the North Barrier Coop got together for a holiday lunch and catch-up at the clifftop home of Sam R. This is the view from her deck – you can actually see the curvature of the Earth! That’s our couscous salad in the silver bowl near the bottom, and see that blue corduroy skirt Eve's wearing? She bought it from our stall at last year’s New Year’s Picnic! I wore skirts like that when I was a teacher in northern New York State, so that skirt is at least 25 years old. She said she loves the two big pockets. I told her that’s where I kept my chalk — in pre-whiteboard blackboard days. Sam R has the most difficult coop job of all – looking after the spreadsheet. She’s the only one of us with the skills to do it. I place the monthly order with Ceres Organics, Caity and Gerald bring the pallets from the wharf at Port Fitzroy to their huge shed at Okiwi Passion, and three or four different members a month meet there to split and pack the food, and deliver it to the rest of the members on their way home. Yum! We couldn’t resist the scrumptious fruitcake recipe in Organic NZ, though we used tart cherry juice instead of brandy. Carrying on our holiday tradition from Golden Bay (where we paid HANDS for expert bakers like Barbara Spooner to make our holiday cakes) we’re inviting people for a cuppa and a piece of out-of-this-world fruitcake. I mean, it is seriously delicious! One of our guests was Izzy, chair of the Local Board, whom Ro meets for a cuppa at My Fat Puku***, the cafē in Claris, every now and then. She’s been on the board for 14 years, and she’d love to retire instead of standing in next year’s local body elections, but she knows how important it is to protect the Barrier, and that pro-development people on the board can begin to change its unique character. A few determined people can do a lot of heartbreaking long-term damage. (***Maori for stomach) Not many people know as much as Izzy about the Barrier, the context in which its fragility hangs in the balance, and the forces that will determine its destiny. We all shared our appreciation of the island and our deep feelings of protectiveness for it. With great relief we heard that DOC’s irrational application to designate the Aotea Track as one of New Zealand’s Great Walks was declined. The summit of the Barrier’s highest peak, Hirakimata, at 621 metres, is the “high point” of the 2-3 day walk, a circuit that follows and crosses streams, wetlands and native bush, including surviving kauri, rimu and kahikatea. Lucky trampers may spot rare wildlife: chevron skink, banded rail, black petrel. It’s a nice little track but not expansive enough to withstand hordes of Great-Walk-bagging trampers. When I first heard of the application, I practically had nightmares imagining the tiny, fragile hot springs overrun and despoiled, not to mention the increased risk of spreading kauri dieback. Izzy also reassured us that the Dark Sky Sanctuary designation hasn’t noticeably increased visitor numbers, but will only serve to keep the Barrier safer from “development”, and told us about progress on one of our suggestions – community bores for north, central and south. The Elephant Gallery We brought a set of tablemats to Marion’s gallery in Schooner Bay, where we found that she’s made beautiful use of macrocarpa blown down in the big storm of 2014. In the centre of the table are takeaway cups made by local potter Sarah Harrison as part of the effort to reduce waste on the Island. Marion also makes these wonderful BeeGlad nifty reusable food wraps made of fabric, beeswax and jojoba oil. I buy the big sheets as gifts and for ourselves, to cut into five smaller pieces to fit different sizes of bowls, and I supply a diagram with the ones I give as gifts! Wellbeing Wanders Among her many other contributions to the individual and greater good, our friend Vicky is a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide offering Wellbeing Wanders on the Barrier. The walks are based on Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practise of Forest Bathing. She says, “The work we do is so important for the planet!” Her website tells more: https://www.naturebathing.nz Vicky took this beautiful photo of sunrise at the south end of Medlands Beach. Charlie’s 83rd birthday song ♪♪♪ Ch-ch-ch Charlie, beautiful Charlie You’re the only g-g-g-guy that we adore When you dr-drive by on your tr-tractor We’ll be waving from our k-k-k-kitchen door! ♪♪♪ Demo Derby Great Barrier Wheels had some rental cars past their best-by dates. Why not have a bit of fun before Rob, the vehicle mover, trucked them off the island? Some say it was the family fun event of the year! You can watch a two-minute video of the silliness at https://www.facebook.com/groups/682942015150399/permalink/1807252916052631/ The Barrier Chitchat facebook page has some stories to tell.... Problem solved! “Will someone please come and deal to this massive pig who is marauding around Medlands and destroying vege gardens and spreading rubbish everywhere – our community here is getting really sick of this. It would make some large family a really tasty Xmas dinner!!!” Suggestions were put forward about how to deal with it, including animal control, biosecurity, council and … direct action. Many, many comments later, this came through: “The boys brought home the bacon last night. I hope it was the culprit.” ... and from the person who first posted: “Thanks – so great to hear that – it should be really tasty with all our veges in his puku!!! Enjoy!” Some days later…. And The GBI Skyscraper Sunflower Grow Off Twelve days later, someone posted this “Jack and the sunflower” photo to show how well hers was growing. Either the seeds are truly magical or she's telling a good fish story! “Off the grid Great Barrier Island leading the way on climate change” A two-minute video from NewsHub: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/10/off-the-grid-great-barrier-island-leading-the-way-on-climate-change.html?fbclid=IwAR3UIXF4-lvM-vXLuYCX2c2ASMXJGVgT9dnqBf19Pee_CjlViDIHQ__NJ90 A public electric vehicle charging station will soon be ready for use at the council service centre. Council is transitioning its vehicles to electric, and so are some islanders. The 2018 Santa Parade Okiwi Passion in spring Caity describes the scene: "Our gorgeous Bohemian sugarsnap peas enjoying the November rains and sunshine. Tomatoes powering away. Tenderstems broccoli in the background." Part of their stall at the Saturday market in Tryphena Young plants from Gerald and Caity – sacred basil and summer savoury, plus chives and one of Caity's beautiful basil tubs When I asked Caity the price of the basil tub, she replied, “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” XOXOXO I’m ready to make pesto … but no organic garlic! The basil’s waiting patiently in the freezer. Cardoon flower close-up Barrier swim hole in the 1970s – can you guess what it is? A water tank! This sunset almost looks like the Aurora Australis! And to top it all off, 66 mm of bee-autiful rain fell overnight on Christmas Eve, a blessed gift to everyone, their tanks and gardens, and to trees, plants and all living things.
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