Grandparents Down Under

We had a few visitors this April and May.

First to arrive were Shelley's folks, Milt and Jeanne. They came in April for nearly the entire month! Arrived and spent their first week with us here in Opunake, then off to travel on their own for 2 weeks then we met them for a holiday in Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Here is a movie of our trip to the Driving Creek Railway, a fascinating little tourist trap...35 yrs ago this man came to create pottery, he slowly built a railway to transport the clay to his studios and eventually became an environmental learning center, nature preserve and history/educational center. Look it up if you wish to learn more....

The next movie is just about a short jaunt from our holiday 'bach' to the next bay, Lonely Bay. A ferry ride across and then a walk to a funky cafe followed by a tramp up and over the Shakespeare Cliff down to Lonely Bay. It rained most of our holiday, it felt right out of the Matrix Trilogy, but at least once per day we managed to get out to do something.

Right on their heels the following weekend was my Dad, Greg, and Joanne his wife. They did the trip a bit more whirlwind, landing in Auckland, driving down to Opunake then off to Wellington where we spent a long weekend together, before they headed off to the South Island.

Kia Ora!

Kia Ora!  (hello in maori)   Legend has it my great, great, great , great Grandmother on my father's side was a full blooded Cherokee Indian.  Perhaps that explains it.  Explains why I've always been more comfortable singing around a campfire, than going "clubbing".  Prefer a tent near a river to a flash hotel.  Prefer a small town to a bussling city.  Feel whole when I pick berries in the wild to prepare a pie.  Perhaps she is why I care little for privacy and swap it for a full house whenever possible.

Here in New Zealand, I get to live amongst a culture that continues to hold on to this communal way of living. Their song, their dance, their language.  The Maori people came here about 1000 years ago by boat from Polynesia.  White (Pakeha) people arrived about 200 years ago and colonized the country.  There is a long sad tale, not unlike the treatment our own American Indians experienced.  However, modern day New Zealand seems to be on a path to try to heal the hurts and move forward as a bicultural country. Easier said than done, there is still a long way to go.  One of the biggest differences for the Maori, compared to Native Americans is that they make up a significant part of the population on the North Island and have a voice in modern politics.  The region we live in is only 26% Maori, but our town is closer to 50%, and my kids are surprised to find out that most of the kids at school, even if they look white are part Maori. Nation wide they make up 15% of the population, and the are growing faster than their European counterparts.

As a school, we spent a day at a marae (Local Maori cultural center)  learning the more traditional arts.  We made and spun poi, weaved with flax, played string & stick games, as well as lots of song and dance.  We topped the day off with a Hangi.  A traditional method of cooking meat and spuds using hot rocks and burying the food in the ground.

Enjoy the little film and see if you can spot Logan and Izaak doing the Haka.