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 Whirinaki Te Pua-A-Tane forest

November 18, 2019 by 3 Comments

Tanya’s four-day adventure with Stephanie.. On the last morning of our recent tramp out of the magnificent Whirinaki Podocarp Conservation Park (located between Rotorua and Te Urewera),  Steph’s acute eyes spied a whanau of whio, the rare native blue duck – parents and six ducklings –  preening themselves on a log, far below us in […]

Filed Under: Culture and heritage, Environmental issues, Our Travels, Tanya's photos, Tanya's thoughts, Treaty issues

Whānau, Whāngai…

November 18, 2019 by 7 Comments

Charmaine’s journey…. I have been on a journey too, this month, but a very different one from Tanya’s.   I’ve just returned from a week  in Sydney and surrounds, spending time with my birth family. Many of you will know that I have two families.  I grew up knowing I was adopted, and believing that I […]

Filed Under: Charmaine's thoughts, Culture and heritage, Our Travels

Local Body Elections

October 19, 2019 by Leave a Comment

We are especially delighted that our friend  Lyn Riesterer , of Whakatohea  descent, became Mayor of the Opotiki District Council – she is the first gay Maori woman Mayor in Aotearoa.  Lyn has been on the Opotiki District Council for two terms, and was Deputy Mayor in her  second term.  Her background is in education […]

Filed Under: Culture and heritage, Gender issues, Our Local Community, Social Justice Issues

Mulame: Lema Shamamba’s Exhibition

October 19, 2019 by Leave a Comment

    We went to the opening of  Mulame in Objectspace Gallery in Rose Road, Ponsonby.  The exhibition, curated by Ane Tonga, comprises  a series of framed, embroidered  panels by our friend Lema Shamamba, depicting aspects of life in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it is powerfully political.  Since she came to Aotearoa ten […]

Filed Under: Charmaine's thoughts, Culture and heritage, Environmental issues, Gender issues, Social Justice Issues

Town and Around

October 19, 2019 by Leave a Comment

  Half of the Sky This stand-out Massive Theatre production, written by Lennie James and produced by Sam Scott, stars: Kura Forrester, Rose Henare Ashby, Grace Palmer,  Max Palamo & Pat Tafa It is on at Q Theatre in Auckland until Saturday 26 October …catch it if you can before it finishes! Three sisters, their […]

Filed Under: Culture and heritage, Environmental issues, Gender issues, Our Local Community

A Fearful Future…?

October 19, 2019 by 1 Comment

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood has just published The Testaments, the sequel to her 1985 classic The Handmaid’s Tale, to great acclaim- including a nomination for the Booker Prize before it even arrived in the shops!  We went to the Bridgeway in Northcote to see  the English National Theatre film of an interview with Margaret Atwood […]

Filed Under: Charmaine's thoughts, Culture and heritage, Gender issues, Social Justice Issues

Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori

September 19, 2019 by Leave a Comment

    This year, to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori, we joined  a hikoi up Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) with a couple of thousand young people, their teachers and family members.  At the top of the mountain there were prayers, haka, waiata and the call of the conch.  We talked along the way […]

Filed Under: Culture and heritage, Social Justice Issues, Tanya's photos, Treaty issues

Place as Person

September 19, 2019 by Leave a Comment

‘Place as person, landscape as identity: ancestral connection and modern legislation’ The 2019 Cumberland Lecture at the University of Auckland was given by Kennedy Warne, founding editor of the the NZ Geographic magazine, and a sensitive man with a deep feeling for Aotearoa and its many environments.   We really enjoyed his lecture on 22 August […]

Filed Under: Culture and heritage, Environmental issues, Treaty issues