Riding Aotearoa on horseback for positive change

There is a whakatauki I was told by Barry Brailsford – told to him by an elderly Kuia.

If you breathe this air

If you drink this water

If you eat this food

And if you sleep beneath these hills ….

You are of here.

It speaks very strongly to me as a Pakeha in this land  Aotearoa/ New Zealand – that I belong too.

What is this?

Also it speaks to me about how important my efforts are in caring for myself, my family and ‘my place’ (where-ever on the planet that happens to be). This caring is actioned by really being HERE   –  NOW. I drink local water, eat food I or those close to me grow if I can, I play here, I often walk or bike from home to go out, I put my hands in the soil in the garden where I live even though I don’t own the place and might not live there much longer – but gardening heals me and the planet on lots of levels. Forget about the car for a day and really, really enjoy BEING at HOME. It can also be a ‘Spend Nothing Day’ – get yourself out of the consume, consume, consume trap that so many of us live in. Just be and delight in it.  Celebrate life and forget the car, forget spending money.

“Get Grounded” can mean so many things aye!

My heart breaks for all the creatures hurt and killed in the Rena  oil spill. We really need to ‘clean up our act!

Claire Webster is an Environmental Educator for the Tasman District Council

Find out more about Back to the Good Life? Ode to Tauranga: Three Car Free Days Before 31st December, 2011

Tags: car free, three car free days