Another Milestone

We've been together for 4 years and today we celebrated another milestone - a little, hard-core group of us travelled to Whanganui to join our classmates to graduate.  The official photo of us in gowns etc will come later but here are some of us; 5 from Taranaki and 2 from Whanganui including our teacher (in the middle).

Two journeys

Last weekend was another weaving weekend and we were all marvelling at how far we have come on our weaving journies - from some pretty dodgy looking first attempts to our first kete whiri, baskets with plaited bottoms.  Making these kete involves bringing boiled/dried flax 'back to life' by dampening it down and leaving it out overnight.  They looked like skeletons all laid out.

and this is what it finished up looking like.

This last week I travelled up to the Hokianga, way far north, for the Māori Librarians annual conference. We stayed at a wonderful marae that used to be a cinema hall and travelled around visiting libraries, schools and marae learning the stories of the area as well as talking through a range of work topics.  This is the view from the gate of the marae where we stayed.  Dirt roads, no mobile phone coverage, nearest town 15mins drive but fantastic hospitality, 5 meals a day and Wifi!

and on the way home here is the crew that made the 10am crossing yesterday on the car ferry to Rawene.

Winter coat

Not the first snow of the season but the first that looks like it will stay.