Written by South Pacific Students, Ash and Grace
What’s New in Our Journey?
Hello there from your LOW’s, Ash and Grace! We are sad to say we have left Raglan but are happy to report the many fun activities that have taken place since the last blog.
Starting off, we took a trip to Wairēinga, or Bridal Veil Falls, and Tiaki took us through a ceremony. We started the ceremony by meeting up and going over Tuakiri, the base pillars of Māori culture, and then discussing its principles. We set off on our walk to the falls with the intention of grounding our focus. During this beautiful ceremony, we were accompanied by two new lovely friends, Tua Hu and Kirsty. We got to enjoy the ceremony all together which ended at the base of the falls, reflecting and participating in a prayer. We ended the day with some incredible karaoke and tofu bowls.
The next day (and half a crew later, due to the illness plaguing our group) we set out to plant potatoes! We all jammed out to music with the LEGENDARY Tiatia and planted 130 potatoes! Due to the high elevation of the beautiful property, the weather was slightly erratic, causing rain storms to randomly occur out of nowhere and then blazing sun coming out just a few moments later. We learned this weather is great for potatoes!
On Wednesday we had a much chilly day and got to learn how to weave harakeke into bracelets and flowers. After weaving we had a quick lunch and went to Gnara Noa’s home and learned a whole lot about traditional natural medicines. We got to sample lovely balms and drink amazing tea, leaving her home relaxed and much more knowledgeable on the topic of holistic healing.
THURSDAY WAS HALLOWEEN!! Oh goody goody it was insane. We started the day off painting a community building next to the Marae we were staying in. Many new friends from the Māori community came and helped us out, and we once again jammed out to reggae, making the whole process fly by. Towards the later part of the afternoon, an amazing community member cooked up an incredible meal of mussel fritters, mussel chowder, and fry bread. It was delicious and we all had a serious case of the JAMS (just ate must sleep) after. In the evening, part of the group as well as some close new buds headed into town. Candy was collected, and homes were visited (partially by showing up at Tim’s house, a Kiwi George Clooney, without an invitation and begging for candy!) All and all it was a Halloween we will not be forgetting.
On Friday, we left the Kokiri and headed out in the direction of our next adventure. Emotions were high, with a goodbye ceremony from Tiaki and some of the community members who we made friends with, and tears from many. Ash and Grace sat in the front seat of the van as we drove away and sobbed for 20 minutes while eating lunch (wraps with weird leftover ingredients, like pickles and hot dogs). We stopped on our way to a “sick as” Airbnb at the most famous glow worm cave in New Zealand, the Waitomo Caves. It felt like a beautiful ending to the Māori cultural experience and was a nice break from sitting in the car.
On Friday and Saturday nights, we stayed by Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in New Zealand. Waterfalls were walked to, lakes were kayaked on, and lukewarm hot springs were swam in (natural ones this time, no scary waterpark vibes).
After another scenic road trip, we have arrived at the Hart Family farm, and are excited for some awesome agriculture.
Top Three Highlights of the Week:
Getting ready for Halloween! Fun makeup and improvised costumes all around, some highlights were Caroline as a Cereal Killer, Grace and Sushi as sushi (Grace was the rice, Sushi was the shrimp), Mary as a leaf, and Susannah as a cat.
On Monday, we headed to town in the afternoon for some coffee and swimming. Gabe made some new friends and played basketball, and we concluded the trip to town by walking home on the beach. On our way home, we got caught in a torrential downpour that felt akin to hail. Once the rain began to lighten up, a beautiful rainbow took over the sky, feeling like a wonderful symbolic reflection of our time with Tiaki.
This week, we took an exciting journey to the pub! Where we hung out with a bachelor party, drank Coke and Sprite, and watched a rugby game while our OE got a bit of unexpected attention.
This Week’s Challenge
Our group was sadly cut in half due to a disease most similar to a cold. The cold wiped out many members of the group sadly making some activities on the smaller side. Thankfully, we are mostly on the up and up! Most everyone has recovered from the cold, or is in the progress of it.
Gratitude
The group is extremely excited to get to know the Hart family farm and learn lots about regenerative farming and rural practices. We are placed right on a a beautiful lake in the rolling green hills of Eastern NZ and it is just incredible!
A Few Extra Highlights
UNO scores: Clivia is still in the lead for UNO wins, but Julia has overtaken Ash with 11 games won so far.
Shout out to the awesome members of the community we stayed in for making this week so special and memorable. They were kind enough to show us the ropes around Raglan and all the best spots to hang out and swim.
A new one of our friends from the community showed us how to make the most delicious bread pudding with just white bread, nutella, jam, nature valley granola bars and milk. This bread pudding was made at 12 am and devoured while sitting on the beach. The group all decided it was the bread pudding we had ever had!
