The Arrow River …

….. ….. in Winter.

In spite of it being a cold grey winter’s day, the beautiful russet bark on these willows lifted the scene out of ‘dreary’. Missy had a great time anyway, following the trails of many rabbits and other delicious scents. My daughter was with us, and we decided that if our sense of smell was acute as Missy’s, we’d probably feel overpowered, like we do walking past a Body Shop! Anyone else feel like that?

A friend and I went and saw a movie called ‘Whina’, about a Māori woman who ended up walking 1,000 kilometres to Parliament, leading a hikoi (a communal walk or march, typically for publicity or as a form of protest) of 6,000 Māori, wanting to protest about the land grabs they’d experienced at the hands of Europeans. They were successful too. The return & recompense has been going on for a long time, and still is. An amazing film, compelling, profound and intriguing. What a wonderful woman Whina Cooper was.