Our first real stop toward the North was near Wairakei whereupon I met the green prepay petrol monsters that are BP Service stations (we were to meet a number of them along the way). You know I have this thing about customer service right, well this was so awful, why (more…)

In the beginning, driving between Napier and Taupo (on State Highway 5) is sort of like playing snakes and ladders. It requires alot of concentration due to the serpentine nature of the hills around Te Haroto particularly since (more…)

Travelling up north again after all these years of being away my eyes feel fresh, eager to see and vociferously guzzle in the sights. I feel like I’ve been in a desert these past few years, the backside of it! I’m going to Haranui, to the marae of my great grandmother Moewaka Jane Rapana (nee Mitai), I’d be lying if I said (more…)

Belonging has a way of sending us into a tail-spin that no other sense or effect on who we are has than anything I’ve been thinking about lately. I’ve often wondered about that. Why its bark is equal in all parts to its bite. Why, it [belonging] has (more…)

Do you remember when you were growing up, those moments when you felt left out from a peer group or even among particular friends within your own group of friends. This isn’t a sense of ‘belonging’ incognito. No, it’s something quite different though (more…)