What have I been doing?

Training, training and more training. Project Management (3 days), Health & Safety (2 days), our document management system and performance review system. In between all that I've been jamming in the usual round of meetings with all and sundry. On the weekends I collapse and try to give my brain time to process it all.

I have, however finally gone for a drive. Admittedly it was work related but I have left New Plymouth under my own steam! I also managed to get back although I should confess that I only went to Inglewood which is 20mins away and there is only one road between there and here. If you leave town any other way you end up in Hamilton or Wellington.

Oh and I have tickets so the festivals continue! Womad (not in Adelaide for all those that were worried I was coming over and not visiting) is 3 days of world music 13-15 March here in NP. I got a 3 day pass so I can pick and choose or just go to the whole thing. And I'm off to the rugby on the 7th, Hurricanes v Cheetahs, also here in town and through careful examination of the map I've worked out I can walk to the ground - bargain!

Fog

Yesterday while Victoria was suffering from the fires we had fog. These were taken when I got home, about 5.30pm. It was sea fog so it was kind of swirly and tasted salty. As you can see Duff wasn't too sure about it either.

Waitangi Day

Last Friday was a public holiday for Waitangi Day, a loose equivalent of Australia Day but without the cricket and BBQs. There was however a lot of sunshine and some celebrations in town.

As my special tribute to my new national day I bought a Hokey Pokey ice cream so I could take a photo for you. It's a bit drippy but this is a single scoop from my local dairy, two minutes walk down the street.

Weaving and shoes

I spent last weekend and most of this week at the International Indigenous Librarians Forum (IILF) down at Otaki, on the coast just north of Wellington. The conference was fantastic with delegates from Australia, Canada, mainland US and Hawaii plus a huge local contingent. We had a local association meeting first and then 4 days of speakers and workshops.

One of the really interesting things from me was the cultural aspect. It's the first time I've been to something with such a strong cultural focus. A lot of the formal bits (welcome, introductions, thank you's) were in Maori and other traditions were also adhered to; no shoes worn inside, every day started with a prayer or blessing. Although my Maori language skills can best be described as 'basic tourist' I coped ok and lots of people also gave a translation for our international guests which was a big help. I learn how to say thank you in 5 languages; Maori, Cree; Squamish; Anishinabe and Hawaiian.

The place were the conference was held was a Maori university/Marai where they run classes but also residential schools. We slept marai style on campus - all in together on matresses on the floor. Luckily someone had thought about how prepared people might be for this and we got ear plugs in our registration package along with programme, name tag and all the usual stuff.

As you can see from the title of this post one of the courses taught is the traditional craft of weaving and there are examples of the student's work all over campus. Below are 2 cloaks (one with Pukeko feathers and the other with flax ends), part of a mat and a basket.

I also got quite fixated on the whole shoe thing (no big suprise) so I have a lovely collection of photos like this...

As you can see we started out really neat, then we started to spread out a bit and by the end of 5 days any old corner would do.

Celebrating Burns Night

Last saturday night 155 real and wannabe Scots lads and lassies packed the foyer at Puke Ariki to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns. Any excuse for a party really. We were 'serenaded' on arrival by a pipe band, there was whiskey along with the wine on the tables. The haggis was piped in, addressed and then served with tatties and neeps (mashed potato & turnips). Dessert was Drunken Laird a seriously wicked trifle. There was entertainment as well, lots of songs and a tear or two shed during Flower of Scotland and Scotland the Brave.



And of course lots and lots of blokes in skirts.

I have wheels...

and an engine and seats and all the other bits that go to make up a car. It's a 10yr old Audi A4 and it's wonderful to have that feeling of freedom again. I am still walking to work but I can now start exploring the area on the weekends and generally do things beyond walking distance without having to rely on someone else.

Apart from buying a car it's been a busy couple of weeks. I have a jam packed meeting schedule and in between am still doing induction training and trying to get a handle on all the projects I seem to be involved in. Oh well, better than twiddling my thumbs wondering what to do next.

Becoming a festival junkie

A couple of weekends ago I went to the Festival of the Lights in Pukekura Park, yesterday I went out to the Parihaka Peace Festival and in March I'm going to go to Womad. I figured that if I try them all then I can work out what is worth doing again next year.

Puke Ariki had a site at Parihaka so technically I was working but it was to a backdrop of great music, food and speakers. The festival goes for 3 days and is held on the site of the original Pa (village). The reason it's a peace festival is that original community actively offered no resistance to the colonial troops who attacked and cleared the residents. If you are interested you can find our more at http://www.parihaka.com/

Anyway, I have photos. The day was incredibly windy but there were stunning views of the mountain and the countryside is full of almost comic book green hills. If you are staying at the festival you camp and some people had put their tents in the oddest places. Unfortunately the wind shut down the main stage but the music still went ahead on the second stage and in the speakers tent.

The site with the mountain in the background; the feather symbol of the festival

more banners and flags (you can see how strong the wind is)

Carving. They did 2 poles that will be put up on the Pa.

I'll definitely be back next year.