Peace

So... the Whanganui River canoeing was incredible! The most amazing scenery and company. It was pretty gruelling work but worth every bit. The amazing gorges, waterfalls, rapids and um... nasty rodents. One night I woke up to find this fat greedy guts possum tucking into our friend's snacks!

After the canoeing we made our way to Taranaki, we stopped off at Jerusalem- A mission station up the river where Sister Aubet worked with tangata whenua on establishing a religious community and home for orphans. It is also where my favourite kiwi, J.K Baxter, spent much of his time. It was a beautiful pilgrimage....

We also got a preview of London (Aotearoa styles!!)Parihaka Peace Festival was just the most relaxing and fascinating time. I have never seen so many dreadlocks, genuine hongi (Maori nose press greeting) and face moko (Maori tatoos) in my life! An amazing mix of people committed to Maori and Pakeha healing history, environmentalists and musos. Challanging speakers on justice, peace and biculturalism, beautiful weather, the raddest music- Katachafire, Kora and Dave Dobbyn rocked my world. This is a bit of Dave's gig-

Our hitch home was a pure God hook up.. all the way to Auckland, with awesome talk, she and Tim are from the same iwi, Te Atiawa and were able to talk about Parihaka and the regions history. Phew. Fabulous times. Now on to prep and the countdown for leaving in one week. ARGH! Hope you are all well! Peace....