Auckland event (and a paradise called Waiheke Island)
Our travelling circus vehicle (at least that’s what it felt like after driving all the way from Queenstown!) finally arrived in Auckland. We were greeted on our arrival by the ever smiling James Samuel, community organiser extraordinaire and one of the most generous people I have been fortunate enough to meet in a long time.
Our kick off event organised by James in Manakau City – a community garden get-together and one of 100 events throughout New Zealand to mark 10.10.10
A small gathering of a cross section of the Manakau City community gathered together at the local Papakura church to discuss some of the possible options for sustainable practice projects. The recent announcement of the election of Len Brown as major of the new Auckland Super City, a Manakau City local brought a buoyant mood to the group.
We were then hosted by James, Simon Harvey and Jerome (our host for the next days’ event at Jasmax Architects in Auckland) for a quiet get together on Waiheke Island. My first time to Auckland let alone Waiheke was eye opening and James, knowing we’d be exhausted after the long journey arranged for a luxury beach retreat. Simon arrived with local organic pizzas, all washed down with some of NZs finest ales.
For people whom I’ve met once, this was a show of generosity I’ve rarely experienced – testament to the strength and spirit of the local community on Waiheke.
After a much needed sleep, we woke to a beautiful calm morning – an early walk on the beach bringing a great photo opportunity and a timely reminder that with the rush of the roadtrip it is so important to take the time to slow down.
Some good breakthroughs and equal amount of mutual learning were achieved with James during the morning to develop a social media course for the ‘community development’ space.
My first experience of Auckland traffic was not as bad as expected although James’ calm navigation kept things sane – thanks and kudos to Jerome for arranging the Jasmax event which was well attended and received – what an amazing presentation space!
After narrowly escaping the parking inspector and driving circles trying to park and a lack of food, frustration started to creep in and by the time Steve was done with his final appointments I was not disappointed to be on the way south again by mid-afternoon to Hamilton.
Thanks to Berny for the car storage in Manakau City and get-away car speed driving to and from the ferry, James for your above and beyond hospitality and thoughtfulness, Simon for the food and beers, Jerome for arranging the event and everyone for being great company!
Return to Awhi Farm to meet with tangata whenua
Welcome to Awhi Farm - Turangi Sustainability Centre
Our return visit to Awhi Farm has proved to be the most culturally rich experience of the tour so far – a grassroots action project, practical outcomes, a supportive learning community, tangata whenua involved intimately in the process – all necessary to create a culture of acceptance, forward thinking and a sustainable future.
Nick, a young Maori man talked passionately about his 8-months at Awhi Farm “this has changed the way I think about what I do, about who I am, about myself”
Lisa, tangata whenua, talked about being able to inhabit the land without having to go into debt, something she had done before and was not prepared to do again – the opportunities Awhi Farm provides allows for this possibility.
Bryan spoke again about the Awhi Farm vision of creating a low-cost practical learning centre for young people in the local community.
Jo talked about the profound impact a 2-week permaculture course had had on her perspective and how it had informed her ideas and community vision for Awhi Farm.
The discussion came up around the idea of whether Awhi Farm could be a teaching and learning hub for sustainable practice in the Central North Island –“It already is” was the response. There is the potential that more formalised recognition of the work being done could be credited through the qualifications in sustainable practice being developed by Otago Polytechnic’s Centre for Sustainable Practice (CSP).
Steve and I were provided with the opportunity to speak from the heart about why the new qualifications are so important – John, one of the founding trust members highlighted the need for the new qualifications to be promoted with Maori communities. Strong ties between a traditional Maori perspective of land and the type of sustainable practice both Awhi Farm & the Centre for Sustainable Practice means that genuine collaboration is possible between these unique, rich and diverse communities; united under the shared vision of what a sustainable future looks like for all of us.
Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua.
Care for the land Care for people. Go forward.
Enough said.
Awhi Farm solar trailer demonstration
Awhi Farm -Turangi
On the suggestion of James Samuel, Steve Henry and I dropped in on Awhi Farm on our way through Turangi not really knowing what to expect. 3 hours later we had to drag ourselves away after being blown away by the scope and breadth of the work that had been done by Bryan, Jo and the the board of trustees.
Steve, Bryan and Jo at Awhi Farm
A fantastic community focussed, led and run project – 10 acres of land on the edge of Turangi, this is old Ministry of Works land overgrown with blackberries and numerous other invasive species. Since March 2010, the board and a committed group of voluteers have come to together to clear the land, erect temporary structures and showcase low-cost sustainable projects including harvest gardens, sustainable building techniques, landscaping and a working community of health and low impact lifestyles.
Much of the work is based on permaculture principles and it is obvious that this is the case when looking around the farm and the trnsformation it has gone through in such a short space of time since opening in March.
Many of the folks there were kind enough to offer their time to describe the projects they had been working on. In this series of posts, I’ve embedded a number of short videos to show what sort of innovative projects are possible when a group of people come together with the shared vision of creating a sustainable future together.
Check out some of the Youtube videos from our time at Awhi Farm:
Bomun talks about creating this low cost sustainable structure
We look forward to out second visit on Wednesday 13th October when Lisa, who is tangata whenua, is available to speak to us about the project and her visions for it. I’m looking forward to it!
