Back at The Cottage

I drove home to The Cottage from Gisborne this morning: 223 ks. It was the first journey of any distance and only the third time since 1 November, that I have travelled with the hood up.

It was relatively (see Eagleton Notes) uneventful with only a stop for fuel for me and for The Handbag in Wairoa.

La Boheme

Nothing to do with the opera (on the face of it anyway) La Boheme is a secondhand bookshop on the main street in Gisborne. It's quite unremarkable to the casual observer except for the splendid figure in the doorway.

A Walk on a Beach

Yesterday I set off on a walk along Midway and Waikanae Beaches (two of Gisborne's fabulous selection). Mike and Sandra dropped me off after we had been to Matawhero Church. They were going to pick me up at Gisborne Harbour after they had been to church. Anyway they decided once they had dropped me that Mike would accompany me and Sandra would take the car to the meeting point. So as I walked barefoot through the water I was suddenly joined by Mike. Whilst walking and experiencing beauty is a pleasurable pastime on one's own it is so often better to have someone with whom to share the moment and the memory. And so it was.

Green-lipped mussel shell (above) Pipi (below)

Looking South down Midway Beach

Mike walking North towards Gisborne (Mike and Sandra live on the headland in the distance)

Seagull

Tussock

Going hither and thither

The Church at Matawhero: The History on Cloth

Inside the Church at Matawhero is a tapestry showing the history of the Church. It is one of the most humble and wonderfully simple tapestries I've encountered.

The Church at Matawhero

I've had a wonderful day sightseeing and you guessed it, playing croquet. This morning Mike and Sandra took me to the historic church at Matawhero (pronounced Marafero). This church was built as a schoolroom in 1865/6 and was used variously as a place of Anglican worship, as a schoolroom, a meeting placeand as a hospital during the Hau Hau engagements in 1868. The militia camped there in March 1870 whilst waing for news of Te Kooti. It was the only building in the immediate vicinity to survive the Povery Bay Massacre by Te Kooti and his band in the early hours of 10th November 1868.

The building passed into the hands of the Presbyterian Church in 1872 when the Rev George Morice visited the area and found people anxious to see a church established and advanced the money for its purchase.

Sunset Across Poverty Bay

Yesterday saw one of the best sunsets for a while across Poverty Bay from Mike and Sandra's house. I sometimes think that I see and photograph so many sunsets because of where I am privileged enough to live and be that I really shold give everyone a rest from them. But I get so enthralled and excited that I just can't help sharing them.

A Wall of Children's Faces

I think this is brilliant. I was shown a wall today. It was executed for the Millenium. On it is hundreds of tiles: each one of which is painted with a face. Every child in the City was asked to paint a self-portrait. They are the faces on the wall; the faces of Gisborne's future.

A Fire at Mahia: Update

Yesterday I mentioned the terrible fire at Mahia. Tonight it's 95% under control (whatever that means). Emergency services began fighting the flames in Opoutama in the Mahia Beach area late yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and it has taken all night and most of today to subdue. A long hot day became a flaming hot night as strong winds fanned fire across 140 hectares of grass and pine, forcing the evacuation of more than 170 locals. Locals described the fire as very frightening and just how frightening became obvious in the daylight. The twisted metal of the nine devastated dwellings are surrounded by a forest of black. Fifty farm houses and baches were evacuated as a precaution and 175 people took refuge at a nearby school. The cause of the fire is still being investigated and the cost of fighting it alone could reach as high as $500,000."We've got lots of expensive machinery involved, fire appliances people who have been dragged off leave on a Sunday. We've got helicopters which are not cheap to run so the bill adds up very, very quickly," says Malcolm Smith of the Department of Conservation. While the immediate danger of the fire has passed if you reach down and touch the ground or even a log you can feel the heat still coming out of it. That's why fire crews say they will be there for up to another three weeks ensuring there aren't anymore flare-ups. Long-time residents say there has not been a fire on this scale for years and its memory will last long after the smoke clears.

Compared with the fires of California and Eastern Australia this has been a mere pimple on the face of the countryside. But it's been very close to home and fairy traumatic. And there's nothing like things close to home to bring reality into one's life.

Croquet in Gisborne

Yesterday (Sunday) I arived in Gisborne. After a quick lunch I found myself on the croquet lawns. They turned out to be 'interesting' lawns and I was struggling. I decided that the only solution was to alter my game. So I did. What a difference. When Mike and I arrived home last night I kept wondering if it was a fluke. Today I had four games against Mike. I used the new stroke and made almost every hoop I attempted. The fact that Mike managed to beat me in all four games was a reflection of his inspired play rather than of my failings. I was well pleased.

OK so that was the boring bit. But you, dear reader (or readers if, by any chance there is more than one of you) are really interested in the fact that the Clubhouse is one of the many buildings in New Zealand adorned with paintings by a local artist.

A Fire at Mahia

As you know I'm in Gisborne with Mike and Sandra at the moment. Yesterday it was 35 deg and this morning it's dull and 20 deg. That's New Zealand for you.

Yesterday when we were playing croquet the fire engines were out in force. We later discovered that there was a huge fire at Mahia to the South which is one of the most attractive holiday beach areas for kiwis and tourists. I'd driven past the area yesterday morning.

This morning it is still burning. Firefighters say the fire is threatening more properties as they battle to bring it under control. Three properties have been lost already, and some 50 farm houses and baches in the area have been evacuated. More than 170 people have taken refuge at a nearby school. The fire has involved up to 1,000 acres of land and there is now concern a change in the wind could force the fire back towards homes. Around 600 firefighters, as well as eight helicopters, are fighting the fire.