I recorded this video in one of my favourite places, the Kaituna Valley Scenic Reserve. It is a tiny pocket of ngahere amidst a valley owned by a large livestock company, practicing intensive farming with large irrigation systems. The ngahere is a small place of hope and reminds me what used to be here. The large kahikatea and matai trees are my grandparents. I sit with them, I talk to them, I listen to them and most of all I hongi them. In summer I swim in the small awa and hope not to get a rash from the the leakage of fertilizer and stock effluent into the awa. I stand with the ngahere, even though physically I cannot help it much, I share my aroha and spiritual tautoko with it.
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