Sites… Heirloom Organics is a wonderful seedling nursery at 951 Coatesville Road, just north of Riverhead Village, open on Fridays and Saturdays. We are especially enjoying our spring visits to choose from their very wide range of herb, flower and vegetable seedlings (including the healthiest tomato plants we’ve ever seen), all sturdy and happy, and at very reasonable prices. The […]
Invisible disability..
October 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Aio Wira held another community dinner on Sunday 11 October to raise funds for the training of deaf interpreters to complement the work of hearing signers. There are some situations which require deaf people who understand deaf culture to interpret for hearing people who, while skilled in NZ sign language, cannot always fully understand the nuances of deaf culture. […]
A new Coromandel enterprise..
October 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A highlight of our recent holiday weekend in Coromandel was going for a guided walk with Jamie Watson, a young local Maori man planning to develop a Maori tourism enterprise in the area. We met him at Driving Creek Café after our trip on the Driving Creek Railway with our friends Shila and Farida. We admire […]
Celebrating Women’s Suffrage – September 19th each year
September 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
New Zealand was the first self-governing nation to grant all women the vote, when a bill was passed in Parliament on 19 September 1893. Each year Women’s Suffrage Day is celebrated throughout Aotearoa (although largely ignored by mainstream media, of course…). There’s an excellent web page about women winning the vote at http://www.christchurch.org.nz/women/ We went to […]
W.H.O. with Wheels
September 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Driving lessons are underway for the local refugee women from W.H.O. (Women of Hope: Wakeup and Help Ourselves). Already Odetta Ntezicimpa (left) , formerly from Burundi, who runs her own mobile driving school, has taken 8 lessons; two of the women are now ready to take their Restricted Licence tests. Our warm thanks to Odetta for her skilled teaching, affirmation […]
The Spring has Sprung
September 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
We love the kaka beak, kowhai and crimson manuka around Earthsong… Peach, anemone and plum are in full bloom too…
All Black in deed…
September 17, 2015 by 3 Comments
We’ve had enough. We’re absolutely sick of having people assume we want to hear endlessly about rugby, and the ABs, and the World Cup. Like hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders, probably, we are not fans of rugby – indeed we find it a war-like, ugly disgusting game glorifying brutishness and thuggery. It’s often played […]
Samoa scenes…
August 19, 2015 by 4 Comments
We’ve just returned from the winter warmth of Samoa and Tanya’s 70th birthday. Here’s a few glimpses of our week… Flowers… Fale… Poutasi Village Developments : Crafts, Education and Gardens… Church on Sunday, of course: the Methodist Church in Siumu Tanya’s 70th birthday surprise from Sinalei Staff… accompanied by “Manuia lou […]
Earthsong Eco Neighbourhood
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