A Kiwi Icon ... really

"In primeval New Zealand cabbage trees occupied a range of habitats, anywhere open, moist, fertile and warm enough for them to establish and mature: with forest; around the rocky coast; in lowland swamps, around the lakes and along the lower rivers; and perched on isolated rocks. Approaching the land from the sea would have reminded a Polynesian traveller of home, and for a European traveller, conjured up images of the tropical Pacific."  - Philip Simpson

I knew this was a shot I really wanted to hunt down while I was home in New Zealand. 

The Cabbage Tree is probably my favourite tree in the whole entire world ...and it has berries that attract exquisite native birds like the Bellbirds and Tuis.

I found these trees in front of Lake Taupo, up in the North Island, and wandered around it awhile, trying to work out just how to capture this New Zealand scene I so wanted to capture.

My Dad ...

I'm just back from 24 hours out at Dad's and it was grand.

He took Gert and I along to the local RSA, where he's president, and we were able to spend a lovely couple of reminiscing hours with people not seen in a long time.  My favourite, without doubt, was Mr Bertie Paul.  I can't even write his name without smiling.  He's 89 and as delightful as ever.

But mostly it was superb to finally catch up with my dad.  It's been far too long. 

And then one of my little brother's wandered in from Australia ... 14 years of not seeing Stephen was finally over.  He and Julie looked just the same.

It's been an almost overwhelming couple of weeks back in New Zealand, so far.  A time of incredible kindness from people not seen in so long.  And it continues, with stories still needing written.  But life goes on and I'm off out again soon.

Tot later, but in the meantime, meet my dad.

 

My Friend Fiona, and her Kiwi Bloke, Barry

I first met Fiona when we were 13 years old.  She was a Fairfield girl, I was a Mosgiel girl and somehow, during that first year in the district high school, we became friends.  And we've never stopped being friends in all the years in-between.  'Quite some' years, as some Belgians might say in English.

When Fiona and her Kiwi bloke, Barry,  first heard I was finally coming home after so long away they said, 'We'll find you a car for while you're here!'  And they did. 

Monday night and they invited us up to their place on the hill for a bit of roast lamb and a catch-up.  I should have known it might involve one of Barry's extraordinary inventions.  In this instance, it was a massive oven he'd built ... absolutely massive. 

Did I photograph The Oven Beast in its entirety?  I did not.  I'm currently regretting that but you do get a sense of it, perhaps, when you see how small the leg of lamb appears, in its cooking position, hanging from the Number 8 wire in the door.  The logs were monsters too.

Fiona and Barry have achieved so much in the years I've been gone.  They have built a new home on top of a hill that looks out over the east coast and down the valley into Dunedin city.  A beautiful new home built to resist the fearsome winds that occasionally come calling.

There are 2 horses living with them these days, a few sheep, one dog and two cats.  Fiona always has been a collector of small and helpless creatures.

At times they had Gert and I doubled over with laughter.  Many stories were told while sitting next to that huge roaring oven as the leg of lamb cooked and Gert got to know something of these excellent old friends of mine.  Friends I simply adore.

And the car they found ... well it's red and comes complete with its own set of stories too.  I expect it to feature in more than a few after we leave to explore the South Island next week.  I may have to start a blog page just for The Red Car. Let's see how that goes.

But to Fiona and Barry ... thank you for always being there over the years, and for being the kind of friends who accept all and expect so very little, including that 8 years of absence. 

Here's a taste of the view from their house on the hill.