We arrived home just over two weeks ago. Aside from the jetlag it felt very disorienting to be suddenly thrust into the middle of New Zealand winter and such a peaceful, quiet environment. There was some reminder of the main purpose of our journey with heavy rain and flooding in Northland, and then last week the same here in Hawke’s Bay. The heavy rain here came after a severe drought period that developed while we were away.
Despite these weather events it is very hard to not start feeling the comfort, slower pace of life, and distance from everything here in New Zealand. I feel such a deep sense of urgency as a result of the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met and talked to over the last 5 months. The challenge is to maintain this. We all need to be waking up to the reality of what is unfolding in our world.
I gave a talk at very short notice at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council last week. As a result of this I am now giving two talks on the 6 August, as a special speaker in a speaker series organised by the Sustaining Hawke’s Bay Trust. Late last week I was in the Bay of Plenty region to reignite work I am doing with the Regional Council there (see www.envbop.govt.nz). On 7 August I am flying to Wellington to meet with Ministry for the Environment staff and also have 30 minutes with the Hon. David Parker, the government minister responsible for climate change. All of this is helping keep me on edge and focused.
My view is that New Zealand is in a position where it can provide some real leadership, through our individual and collective actions. But we need to focus our resources much more on empowering communities in shaping and enacting positive visions for their future. Two key needs stand out from our travels through Asia and Europe. The need for more trees and the need for us to develop a greater sensibility to nature.
Like many Asian and some European nations we have problems in New Zealand associated with deforestation and increasingly intensive use of land that is drought and/or flood prone. More erratic weather and more frequent weather extremes are compounding these problems. We need very smart planning and design for the future. There are success stories for us to learn from.
Meanwhile I’ve sent my film camera to Auckland to hopefully resolve the problems that I had after the lens unit was replaced in Florence. Once I get it back I’ll be borrowing another camera and creating backup tapes of all my master tapes. Then I can sit here and starting working through everything that we’ve filmed. I need to transcribe the interviews and start shaping the story that is there. I’ve decided that I want to tell my own story, in my words with my voice. I just need a little support, from someone who has directing/editing skills, who has access to an editing suite and who is happy to work with me. Anyone out there?
Despite these weather events it is very hard to not start feeling the comfort, slower pace of life, and distance from everything here in New Zealand. I feel such a deep sense of urgency as a result of the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met and talked to over the last 5 months. The challenge is to maintain this. We all need to be waking up to the reality of what is unfolding in our world.
I gave a talk at very short notice at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council last week. As a result of this I am now giving two talks on the 6 August, as a special speaker in a speaker series organised by the Sustaining Hawke’s Bay Trust. Late last week I was in the Bay of Plenty region to reignite work I am doing with the Regional Council there (see www.envbop.govt.nz). On 7 August I am flying to Wellington to meet with Ministry for the Environment staff and also have 30 minutes with the Hon. David Parker, the government minister responsible for climate change. All of this is helping keep me on edge and focused.
My view is that New Zealand is in a position where it can provide some real leadership, through our individual and collective actions. But we need to focus our resources much more on empowering communities in shaping and enacting positive visions for their future. Two key needs stand out from our travels through Asia and Europe. The need for more trees and the need for us to develop a greater sensibility to nature.
Like many Asian and some European nations we have problems in New Zealand associated with deforestation and increasingly intensive use of land that is drought and/or flood prone. More erratic weather and more frequent weather extremes are compounding these problems. We need very smart planning and design for the future. There are success stories for us to learn from.
Meanwhile I’ve sent my film camera to Auckland to hopefully resolve the problems that I had after the lens unit was replaced in Florence. Once I get it back I’ll be borrowing another camera and creating backup tapes of all my master tapes. Then I can sit here and starting working through everything that we’ve filmed. I need to transcribe the interviews and start shaping the story that is there. I’ve decided that I want to tell my own story, in my words with my voice. I just need a little support, from someone who has directing/editing skills, who has access to an editing suite and who is happy to work with me. Anyone out there?
Our last night in London, farewell to Lena!
From floods in England to floods in New Zealand.
Back to nature, at Ocean Beach where local developers want to create a residential development. This is costing local ratepayers a small fortune to work through planning processes. There are some good people working on this, but why are we focusing so much energy on a beautiful beach that ought to be kept free of development when we have much bigger issues in front of us. Please can we step back and look at the bigger picture for the future and protect beautiful places where we can walk and enjoy nature.
Two weeks back home and finally a sunny day and a beautiful sunset in a stunningly clear atmosphere. Something that we take so much for granted here in New Zealand.
