Holy Cow!

Waitangi Day celebrations in the Octagon Dunedin was a relaxed affair with people hanging out socializing, dancing, eating and having fun. Our current NZ government is putting extra effort into honoring the treaty. The treaty between Maori and representatives of the British Crown was signed at Waitangi ,(a village in the North Island), in 1840 and based on three principles.

The three “P’s”, as they are often referred to, are the principles of partnership, participation and protection. These underpin the relationship between the Government and Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi. These principles are derived from the underlying tenets of the Treaty.

Like all UK colonized countries, despite the treaty, the impact on the native population has been devastating. The treaty was not honored in the way it was intended. The Maori in NZ have a disproportionate amount of their people in poverty and incarceration, higher health issues and fewer kids reaching tertiary education in comparison to their Pakeha, (white), counterparts. Addressing this is a priority of the new Labor Government, and to be fair the last Government too, and more headway has been made honoring the treaty, including giving more power back to Iwi ,(tribe), allowing them to address issues themselves.

NZ did initially do something different, in that we had no reservation system, unlike those in North America and Australia. I believe this crucial difference, has allowed far more integration of the cultures and enabled modern day NZ to incorporate the Maori culture and language into our everyday life alongside the Pakeha culture, and it continues to look for new ways to do this, introducing Te Reo ,(the Maori language), into all classrooms is one example. We still have a long way to go, but I have hope.

Anyway, school is back and this includes all the University students, suddenly Dunedin has an increased population of over 20 000! This brings a whole new energy to the city and with the newly introduced “Lime scouters” for another transport option, the whole place is just buzzing.

They are certainly proving very popular, from the student, to tourist, to business person, you will see them all buzzing around on them.

Rich has brought himself a road bike and has been doing a lot of riding. The hills are hard work and he says he is feeling his legs every day, but he is loving it! Next on his list is a mountain bike!

Last weekend some friends came over and we went swimming at our back beach, it was such a hot, lovely day, so so lucky to have this right at our back door!

We also made a trip to the place we buy our milk from. It is a small, locally owned farm run in the old fashioned way with a huge focus on ethical farming. Luca fed a 2 day old calf. One of his friends father works here so we can go up anytime, much to Luca’s joy 🙂

The milk is sold in bottles, just like the old days and works on a honor system (trust!) , you go in leave your old bottles, (washed well!), pay, and pick up new ones with all the money just sitting there and no one around. It works! The farm is very much supported by the local community, has been selling for over 15 years, going from strength to strength, showing it is possible to farm ethically and sustainably and still make a living.

Their milk prices are only slightly above mass produced products making it doable for us. Like everywhere else we have lived, we work to a tight budget. I love the idea of farmers markets but honestly we just cannot afford the prices on a weekly basis. There was a lovely one where we lived in Nova Scotia, but the prices we simply could not afford despite our ethics, and it is much the same here. We make use here of the “at the gate” products that are dotted around the more rural areas, but still do way too much grocery shopping at pak’nsave (the discount supermarket). I sure do miss the guys that used to drive by our gate in Costa Rica with their farm products at very reasonable prices!

We are looking forward to having a big vege garden again like we did in Manitoba, and having some farm animals to become more self sufficient.

First on the list of animals is chooks, (chickens). We had them in Manitoba and we all miss them, and what they provided us, immensely! Luca is very much about ethical farming, and refuses to eat eggs that have been cage farmed. Luckily again there are affordable options for us around here, but we really, really need our own asap! Watch this space…… 🙂

Speaking of animals, Vida has ingratiated herself into our family, she has claimed us as her own, no doubt about it.

Rich and I fitted in a strenuous hike this week, the views and day were awesome…..

As we head into the school year, Luca has been given his first written assignment. He is very enthusiastic about it and went off to the local library where he asked the librarian to help him with research. I went down later to see how he was getting on and snapped this photo of them. She is so patient and kind with Luca and I expect will be his regular “go to” 🙂

The school held a “start of year BBQ” this week and we went along. They also took the opportunity to introduce us to the new play pod they have brought into the school. I am very excited about this. I am a HUGE proponent of play for kids , with free, (without adult interference), and “risky” play, alongside immersion in nature, being in my opinion, equal if not more important, to academics.

Play pods are basically shipping type containers filled with loose parts gleaned from the community, bits of wood, tires, rope, wheels, cardboard etc allowing kids to create anything their imagination desires. We have a huge field at the school surrounded by trees, rocks and banks that the kids love to climb all over, the pod is opened at recess and the kids are left to it.

The idea originated in the UK with great success, see the below link

https://www.playpods.co.uk/

I am so so happy we have Luca in a school that has embraced this idea!

Rich has also joined up as a volunteer for the school boating class. He will be going in to help with Luca’s, and other classes as they learn about boating, sailing, kayaking etc. The school has a fleet of vessels donated by local groups over the years, and maintained by a group of volunteers, (they do a wonderful job). It is a fantastic opportunity for our kids and they are so lucky to have their school right on the water and to have a shed full of boats. They start next week, Rich is excited if a bit nervous, each group will have 30 kids in it!!!!!!

Rich has a big love of the water and was away from it for so many many years, I am so happy he gets to do this with Luca.

One of Luca’s favorite questions to us is “what is your favorite dinosaur?”, his is apparently the Mosasaurus , (yes I had to goggle it!!!!). This came onto my FB feed this week, may we always care and hold onto what we are passionate about it, is easy to lose sight of as we move through life…..