Catching up with some NZ bands in Japan, great!

The beautiful Hinewehi our famed Maori poet and singer in New Zealand was the star attraction for me. I have enjoyed her music for years so it was great to see her live, what an enchanting voice.



Nesian Mystik is a HipHop/Pop/Polynesian group, whose cultural backgrounds include Maori, Tongan, Samoan and Cook Island/ Aitutaki. The diversity Nesian Mystik harnesses creates a sound which is uniquely their own, combining rap, soulful harmonies, scratching, and guitaring that has become the signature for these talented men. They were so much fun and had the Japanese up and dancing...at noon!

Izu Penninsula

Last weekend I went with my friend to the Izu Peninsula in her car; which made a bit of a change from always catching the train.
The beach was at the end of the Peninsula, far away from the other horrendous tourist developments with massive concrete block hotels. It was a small undeveloped country place with golden sand and turquoise water. It was a fantastic weekend of weather, good enough to go swimming. In Japan everyone stops swimming in October and the beaches are officially closed! I was the only swimmer and my friend would have little to do with me on the beach in my togs. Yet the water was so warm. We stayed in a Japanese B&B except we got dinner as well, for the most elaborate feed and comfortable bed. Dinner included many varieties of dishes; raw fish, meat, pickles, prawn, potato dish, rice with all sorts of goodies in it, spring rolls with meat & veggies inside and steamed fish, tofu dish; it was so filling and gorgeous what an array, what a feast. Breakfast was also a delight pictured below: melon, rice, salad, egg, salmon.

The house was nestled in some lovely countryside and even the bathroom was spring water, natural and soft on the skin, a huge big bath. The owners were so nice and it was great having Naoko with me to translate. We even found a nice coffee place with a bakery on our travels to top it all off. However we were stuck in a traffic jam on the way home: a mass exodus back to the big smoke afterall this is the biggest city in the world.

Carnival at School, Japanese children perform a Maori Poi Dance

My children are learning all about Maori, kiwi and how to save endangered species, especially whales.

They will be the nations future demonstrators against pilaging the ocean and land, that is my fervent wish.