Time of the Season on Great Barrier Island As the solstice and new year draw near, a wish for HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone and ALL THE BEST for 2020! Healing with Plant Medicine & Nature Mary Allan’s visit was the best, even beyond my expectations! It was a women’s utopian weekend with a lovely special atmosphere and good fun plus heaps of learning and interest for more ignited. After months of planning, the big day, and Mary, arrive. Mary’s Friday evening talk gets underway. Baking by Nessie! The 23 participants at the Saturday workshop were an incredible group of wāhine ātaahua, ten of whom are young and some with children, which pleased Mary a lot! She said fewer people attend her workshops in town and most of them are older. Some said this was the best attended workshop they’d known of on the island! Model for Holistic Health: The foundation the pyramid is awareness of heart energy and connection to the world, then the basics of health: real food, sleep, exercise, stress management spiritual health and social health. Above that, stimulate self healing through the healing power of nature, then support weakened body systems, and finally, symptom control. Sampling tinctures Some of the slides The second one means “the healing power of nature”, and the third is “treat the cause”, that is, the perceived cause (How did this come about?), though the idea is to treat both the roots and the branches. Everyone at the workshop was invited to a shared dinner at Vicky’s. Ten of us were around the table, ending with candlelight tea and more chatting. I dedicated Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” to Mary on my radio show the next day, because of the famous words "There is a crack in everything, that’s where the light gets in", from the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. Mary's translation was which tells us that through our illnesses, injuries and other woes we can gain insights that can be transformational. Many find their calling. Soon after Mary left, Lucia created a facebook page, Aotea Medicinal Herbs, for sharing information and inspiration. The cover photo plant is cleavers, the one we used at the start of the workshop to practice deep observation with all our senses. Then Lucia, Toni&Tony and I started up “Herb of the Week” on our radio shows! The group decided to get together monthly in the new year, with each person in turn researching a herb and sharing with the others. We may even start a medicinal herb section at the community gardens! Best of all, Mary will be back! She’ll do a second workshop in February and another one sometime after that. She reckons by them we’ll have enough grounding to carry on on our own. On top of that, Carrie in Golden Bay is looking into organising a similar weekend there, and Mary is keen! And all this because I needed to consult with a herbalist and found Mary in the journal of the Herb Federation of New Zealand. Meant to be! Mary’s photo of the island from her return flight to North Shore airport Our intrepid friend! After months of training and testing, lovely Eunate is one of three new island St John volunteer first responders, soon to achieve her New Zealand Certificate in Emergency Care. She participated for months in classes and study in first aid, mental health first aid, decision making, safety, law, ethics, communication and collaboration, and in training scenarios. Sandi, Sharlamon and Eunate administering CPR to the resuscitation manikin. It has pulses, it breathes and coughs and can even vomit. When Eunate is on call, two nights a week, her pager gets her out of bed, she dons the uniform (a step also intended to calm the nerves and refocus the mind), drives to the ambulance station and then drives the ambulance! She had her ambulance driving instruction and assessment one day a few months ago – all on one drive to different parts of the island! Eunate was on three callouts in her first two weeks, one lasting three hours in the wee hours of the morning. She’s sworn to complete confidentiality, so she can’t even tell her partner, Sam, which part of the island they went to or if she assisted medically. I asked him how she’s been when she gets home – shaken, satisfied or what. He has no idea – he’s asleep! I want to interview Eunate on my radio show, but she says she's too shy! Courageous enough to take people’s lives into her hands, but not to sit in a studio and talk about something she knows well and speaks of with great enthusiasm – a perfect example of public speaking being most people’s greatest fear! If not, I'll ask Sharlamon and I wonder what she’ll say! Eunate’s and the other volunteers' altruism and dedication are astounding! Local heroes! St John has been running workshops in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and use of the AED (automated external defibrillator). They hope to train every possible islander. With funding from the local board, they’re installing AEDs throughout the island, in places where people gather and where they're easy to find, like outside the church at Medlands. The AED delivers a brief and powerful electric shock to the heart, helping it regain its natural rhythm. If someone comes to the aid of a heart attack victim within 3-5 minutes, use of an AED increases the chance of survival from less than 8 percent to 40 percent! Great Golden Barrier Bay I bet our Golden Bay friends will recognise the two people on the right and where they are! Yes, it’s Albie and Fill.. Without ever having met John and Peggy of Great Barrier Island, Albie and Fill invited them to dinner before they left the island in their electric vehicle! They met through a website for EV owners when John and Peggy were locating charging stations for a trip to the South Island. John took the photo to surprise us and then took this one at the Santa Parade market for Albie and Fill. And the rest Gerald’s banana saplings, some grown for sale at summer markets Kotare (kingfisher) on one of our boundary posts Lupins and heather in the reserve, truckbox sleepout-in-progress in the background Arcturus and other springtime flowers on the path to Kaitoke Beach Maori potatoes in the recycling bin Yams in a grow bag The “ant people” setting traps for Argentine ants Jordan’s roses took first prize for “best bloom" at the annual rose show. He called in on his way home and gave us one! Latest goodie box from Bev and Les – nothing like new potatoes! Bottling kombucha Santa Parade Kaitoke School took first prize Cool Santas Australian bushfires affect the sun over the Barrier
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