Treasure from afar

I've come across a great blog - http://loveinatent.blogspot.com/ - by a writer in New Zealand called Maple Kiwi, or Michelle to her friends. She's written a book called 'Sex in a Tent' - now that's my kind of outdoor culture. Warmer and more private than sex under a tarp. Would that be wild dogging?


I miss New Zealand, I really do. What a cool country - big hills, loads of gorgeous beaches, a rich Maori culture, nice beer, plenty of dub and they drive on the left. My family and I are due back there in February 2010 for my 40th birthday, but I'd like to go in 2009 too. In fact, I'd like to go every year! The only problem is how to pay for the yeti-like carbon footprint of flying as far as you possibly can without actually going into orbit...



My 3 year old daughter said the other day that her favourite place in the world is Heather and Trevor's farm on South Island. It's alongside the Waimakariri river, down the road from Arthur's Pass and this limestone wonderland, Kura Tawhiti, meaning treasure from afar. This stunning location is a classic example of compromise between recreational, scientific and spiritual land users. The site has cultural significance to the ngai tahu people, and is also a designated conservation area for its rare plants. Despite the offence it causes to ngai tahu, the area is popular with rock climbers and boulderers. It's hard to avoid comparisons with Uluru in Australia, where Aboriginal wishes are ignored by hundreds of climbers on a daily basis and the cultural divide is shocking: 'It's just a rock' said the taxi driver. In the UK, we can't even touch Stonehenge, and I'm not sure which is the worse state of affairs.


My friends Matt and Janelle had a baby boy recently in their Auckland home. They married in 2004 at the aforementioned South Island farm. I wrote a song for the occasion called Festival of Love, which you can hear at www.reverbnation.com/wilburkyle . I can't wait to get back to Aotearoa and meet the boy.



Did I mention the gorgeous beaches? This is Maitai Bay, at the end of Northland's Karikari peninsula. It's perhaps my favourite beach in the world. We got up there in February this year, and were just thinking about Barry and Marlene, a Kiwi couple we'd last seen there on our previous visit in 2001. Naturally, they rocked up again in 2008 within minutes of our arrival. Now I know NZ has a small population, but come on!