Whare Kōtare

27/08/2026

The depth of joyful satisfaction that comes from doing something I’ve wanted to do, and talked about doing, for awhile now.

After being inspired by an awesome doco, I’ve wanted to make my own salt.

And finally, have done it.

I’ve been fussing about where to harvest the water from and found this fab spot with a rocky outcrop (no sand), and away from waste water outflows.

The hikoi to get it was laden with bird song and Beech tree honeydew.

And the process was wonderfully simple. Strained it through a teatowel, and just simmered away to evaporate the water until what’s left is the concentrated salt.

Most of its simmer time was on the fire so making the most of existing energy burn was cool too.

It’s delicious. Salty and tastes a little like seaweed.

Take this as a gentle prompt to take one of the things on your ‘I’m gonna’ list and turn it into a ‘When I did’ story.

Now when seasoning food with it, I’ll be able to think of the beautiful beach it came from 🥰

25/08/2026

Found a new Watercress patch but it was starting to be taken over by an invasive plant Wandering W***y | Tradescantia.

So the Cuzzy and I got stuck in and cleared a small section so it’ll stop smothering the Cress patch.

Hopefully it’ll mean the Cress can keep boosting.

And it feels super empowering to just get stuck in and do some mahi.

Cool thing about being Active Kaitiaki is we can just Do helpful stuff like this.

We don’t need to wait for some external system based agency to do it, we can lean in and just do the Doing.

If we all do a little bit, especially with the invasive plants by clearing or even eating it if appropriate, then we’d be healthier and so would our Natural World.

Feels fab to have added this little part of the world to look out for cos we’ll keep going back to check and clear some more each time.

What things do you do to be an active
participant in your local ecosystem?

24/08/2026

Now this is SUPER exciting!

As a Rural kid who grew up on a sheep farm in the Tararua hill country, I’m beyond stoked that Ignite is able to provide this support to our Rural communities.

I’ve been a Wellbeing Provider through Ignite for a few years now and this is a wonderful new development.

Thanks so much and 🙏🏽 make the most of this amazing support offer whanau.

If you’re interested in support in-person in the Horowhenua / Kapiti area - set the location to Levin and you’ll find me easy as, and you’ll be able to book with me through the Ignite page.

I’m also available for online sessions through this platform.

Let me know how you find the booking process, as there are so many amazing providers in the Ignite ecosystem.

Ignite is partnered with and , so that people living and working rurally have access to three free mental health and wellbeing sessions, that can be booked online and completed over a video or phone call, or in person.

No referral. No travel. Good support.

Visit ruralsupport.ignite.org.nz to book!

23/08/2026

When asked once what my favourite kind of Soil was, the answer that came to mind was ‘baby soil’

That layer that sits below the decomposing leaf litter and above the ‘grown up’ soil.

Funny how my mind had named it and catalogued it.

Then, while reading a book recently around soil health - in the layers of soil between the litter layer and bedrock - is a layer called ‘parent soil’

So, Taiora whenumi, nutrient mixing layer, is perhaps my fave.

It shows me the forest is ‘in process’ normal daily life, of the all year round leaf drop. (NZ forest is Evergreen for the most part, so it doesn’t do a big leaf drop in Autumn, it’s constantly dropping a small amount of leaf fall)

There’s still the noticeable shape of the sticks and leafs, but it’s all in a transition space and is soft and crumbly.

The moroiti, microbes, and insects are doing their mahi.

It feels to me like the constant promise of future life being built into the thin topsoil layer of our island nation.

And it reminds me of my childhood of scrambling up banks and around inside our native forests, the feeling of it soft in my hands and underfoot.

Ever so ‘earthen’

And can imagine the scent, or petrichor, that lifts as the top layer of leaf litter is disturbed.

What’s your favourite kind of soil? Are you a clay, sand, silt, loamy or other kind of fan?

19/08/2026

Found a few Alpine Strawberries for a lil snack while fossicking about.

I left the first patch I found as wasn’t sure how many were around. Then found these guys for a taste.

They’re pretty bland in flavour, but they’re cute and crunchy with a high seed count for their size.

Also super high in Vit C, handy for in Winter hey.

I love their bold colour against the green moss of the forest floor.

They often hang out on the forest / trail edges. I’m guessing that they like to have some sunshine in their life so they’re in more open areas rather than in dense bush.

Found some Puha and Sorrel growing in the River stones (the purple one) and some lush puha growing on a repairing slip face.

Some yummyness added into my day while roaming around

19/08/2026

How good is a Tūāhu or Ritual Space

One of my main ones, while being super simple, holds loads of nuanced depths.

I was in a space last year of feeling very lost.

An investment I’d made had not panned out.

So was struggling financially as well as working through the emotional ripples.

And, was at a fascinating juncture where I’d spent the better part of a decade in a learning space and it was time to take another bold step to move along the path I was being called along.

Called by the Past and the Future.

My Tupuna and our Mokopuna.

The Waypoints points I’d used to Navigate through my life to this point had dissolved.

I was Lost and felt adrift in the Void of Te Kore.

I was in a space of starting afresh, but also gathering together everything I’d learnt so far to bring the important parts to build a platform to stand on and move forward from.

So, on this particular day a year ago I went to the River to seek Direction.

And she gave me these Navigational markers.

A heart shaped stone for me in the middle.

And then North, South, East, West

I set them out on the grass beside the door of my Bus for the daily reminder that no matter what happened in my world around me, I always had the most fundamental ways of finding Myself.

They sit flat on the Earth – in that Liminal space between Papatūānuka and Ranginui. Earth Mother and Sky Father.

Me in my simplest form.

It was time to Re-gather and start moving in new ways now toward this future my Tupuna had called in for me.

I started moving from the Chaos in my Heart of not knowing what Direction to move in, to realising in the Darkness of Te Po, that I’d always Known. I just needed to let go of some things I thought I knew. That were in fact getting in the way of where I was meant to be going.

As we sit now on the edge of Winter and Spring – where Te Ao, the world of Light and warmth returns

I’m excited.

Not in a giddy kind of way.

But in a deeply bubbling, soulful kind of way. Knowing the cycle keeps moving. But knowing now that in all the moments I need it my Wayfinding reference points will be there at the very least.

And at a very basic level - that is enough.

Mauri ora e te whanau 🌿

17/08/2026

Pretty excited to be adding Kai foraging alongside my Rongoā rakau foraging.

My Rongoā rakau knowledge for finding, harvesting and using our wonderful wild growing medicinal plants has grown greatly in the last few years.

Now I’m expanding super intentionally into foraging for kai - Yeow!

Pretty chuffed with this haul to add to dinner tonight.

Pikopiko | Manamana | Hen and Chicken Fern | Asplenium bulbiferum

Harvested a handful of these shoots and cleaned off the slight fuzz on the stems.

Sautéed em up with butter, garlic, lime juice and some black sesame seed sprinkles.

Yummmm!

Texture is like asparagus with a nice slightly bitter flavour.

Will def be adding this to the menu on the regular. It tasted super nutritious.

Also picked up some Angi Angi from a fallen Tawa tree and had a few Karamu berries for a little nibble while on trail.

Found a small patch of Onion W**d | Allium triquetrum to check later too. This one is an introduced invasive plant so will be great to add it to the foraging food list as a way of contributing to controlling its spread by simply adding it to the menu and eating it. Far better than spraying it.

💚🌿💫

14/08/2026

Come hang with me and Pouakani a little 💚

Germinated circa 200 CE, he’s approx 1,800 years old and Aotearoa’s largest known Tōtara tree

Spending time with our Forest Giants really does let me recalibrate, slow down, and look for what’s important and see where I can do more to help our Taiao.

The space around this guy was ever so Peaceful.

And I cried some. For the sadness of how many Forest have been lost on our archipelago and globally.

Every breath we take in, is the exhale of our Trees

With such a small amount of our natural forests and ecosystems left, I’m even more called to action to do what I can, and share the stories of other amazing people doing replanting and conservation work.

I can feel him still, upcountry, standing tall and still growing. With his Kahu and other Manu keeping him company along with the few other Totara that survives the logging in the last couple hundred years.

14/08/2026

Sometimes I just need to go where the Whenua meets the Fire.

Tūwharetoa country delivered the goods on Volcanic and Geothermal delights.

Often when I need to replenish my internal ahi kā, or internal Fires, I go upcountry for a reset.

It’s been a massive year of mahi and it was time for this little patupaiarehe to withdraw and replenish.

It’s ok to be tired after big work, and it’s ok to shift gears and recharge.

I rested in all the ways. Turned the phone off, notifications off, screens off. Read 3 fiction novels, had loads of hot swims, walks and chilled days.

With minimal talking!! And for me, that’s a neat trick alright. IYKYK 🤪

Back home to the low ebb of the Whiro marama - rest well e te whanau. It’s not always just about more sleep

02/08/2026

Have been thinking a lot about the native rewilding and riparian plantings that I’ve been involved in since organising the first ones at the Higgins Manawatu Branch almost a decade ago.

I love being able to contribute in this way as an active kaitiaki so make sure to keep doing this.

I have happy planting memories at Palmy, Foxton, Kōputara, Tahamata, Te Hakari, Kuku Beach dune systems, Te Ngahere o Koroneiria and more.

And I know there are a lot of amazing people out there doing their own personal and public space planting. Some are funded from Grants, some through business and Council collabs, others are Personally funded.

I’d love to hear about where you’ve planted native trees and plants to help restore natural habitats!

Let’s light up planting locations and memories.

The Land will hear us, and your own Self will love the trip down memory lane and wondering how all the Plants and doing.

Let me know in the comments where you’ve planted, and if you can recall, the names of the plants . . .

Feel free to share photos 🌿