Winter in Aotearoa. The 1st July saw me in Porirua and I took the opportunity to explore after work. I walk/ran up through the bush and out into open hillside on The Colonial Knob walk which is part of Te Araroa Trail. It was good to get up high and blow out the cobwebs after a day inside. I cut the loop short as the light was fading and the wind was increasing. The rest of the trail is there for another day.
Children in this classroom were playing games that help to develop computational thinking. I watched a wee girl work out the instructions to get from one square to another, checking her initial thining then debugging and trying again.
A cat. That is all.
A glass of beer. That is all!
Our local beer and wine store is offering gift baskets for Dry July. They look pretty tempting.
As part of my te reo Māori class we have to attend some wananga days on Saturdays. We had fun today learning how to use rākau – definitely took quite a lot of concentration!
One of my favourite walks and the view is always different. Pukemokemoke yesterday and today the Waikato River trails for another regular.
This was the view from the building where we worked today. Facilitating a design thinking workshop with teachers today and tomorrow in this inspiring space called The Grid.
It was a cold and misty wintery start this morning. Early breakfast at Wynyard Quarter.
It’s the weather for a warming dark beer!
He waka huia – a treasure box. I have been working on a project with some colleagues as part of a course I am doing on cultural responsive pedagogy. We are looking at the idea of culture and history being a taonga, or treasure and the idea of time capsules holding the stories of the past, the present and the future as treasures. I thought of using my Mum’s jewellery box which contains treasures from different generations as an analogy.
Crater Rim track, Christchurch. Taking the opportunity to spend the weekend with Moira and Terry before our facilitator hui on Monday & Tuesday. I hired a car and drove out to explore the trails. What a stunning day and the views were amazing.
Sunday meanderings with Moira and Terry; first the Old School Collective which is housed in the former primary school at Waikuku for a coffee and a browse of the shops, then on to the Brew Moon at Amberley for a wee beer! Grabbed a takeout to share tomorrow.
I just love how Christchurch has incorporated so much fun in the re-design for all! We had great fun playing on the swing #chchswing.
Part of our hui over the last two days has been participating in creating a raranga (weaving) together. It was part of incorporating hauora (wellbeing) into our mahi (work). I spent half an hour working on it and it reminded me of the sense of calm that I experience when I am absorbed in anything creative.
Home after a few days away so I took my boys out for coffee. I spend my life trying to get photos of them together when both are smiling. They know this and conspire to ensure I am never successful. One day, I’ll write a whole post just with photos of these two!
“He Tirohanga ki Tai: Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery is an exhibition featuring both leading and emerging Māori artists, who have created a completely sovereign space, supported by Indigenous funds, to hold a conversation critiquing the Cook invasion, the ensuing colonial experience, up to and including the TUIA250 events.”
It is a powerful exhibition of confronting artworks and I spent my lunchtime browsing with Nigel up at the University of Waikato.
Sometimes we end up at the WonderHorse – usually dangerous – and I love watching the cocktail masters at work!
Lime glut! I made lime meringue pie which was delicious! Also lime cordial and marmelade!
Went for a wander in Pukemokemoke with Nigel and there were loads of these basket fungus around.
Excited to browse this book – full of whakatauki and the stories that sit behind them.
I got really excited after I watched Horomono Horo playing at WINTEC – he is a master at playing traditional Māori wind instruments. He played alongside Jeremy Myall who creates music on the computer as Horomono plays. He also talked about the stories and skills that are passed down through generations and who has the mana to retell them. One of the other things he talked about was that we have to recognise that rangatahi might want to tell their stories in different ways – possibly digital and that given that storytelling has always happened in different ways over millennia, they shouldn’t limit them. I had so many questions then about how that fitted with tikanga, tradition etc…
Planning!
We spotted these paintings all over the city – turns out it was from an art class that was run in the city somewhere! Love it!
Sometimes working in the cafe down the road helps me concentrate and the coffee is so much better than at home!
Trailrunning – training for Taupo 50km – I must have thought entering was a good idea at the time! Great to be out on the trails in such stunning scenery though!
This sculpture is sort of hidden along the river trail through town unless you look up or out of the museum window!
Dodged the rain for a run along the Whanganui River. Turned around when I reached the field full of cows and calves. River level very high after the rain.
Art in the city.
Peeking! The life of a teenager with no responsibilities!
