Hurray! As part of my catching-up-with-myself agenda, which continues to mostly go as planned (minus some down time for the flu) I have just finsihed Traditional Maori Poi with Migoto, shot in Wellington last March. Migoto showed Dan, Jocelyn and myself some Maori short poi. Enjoy!

So, Wellington is a cool city. It reminds me a bit of San Francisco with the hills and the way people drive and park. It's also very windy, and I went on some great runs up until I caught a cold.

Things are going well here. We've made some great friends with local fire spinners, who let us camp in their back yard. Big thanks to Todd, Grif, and Jess! Grif took us on a great tour of Wellington hilltops, including a stop at their (one and only) windmill turbine. Hopefully they'll build many more...

We were able to meet with Bill Nathan the evening we arrived in Wellington (after a very stormy ferry ride.) Bill showed us several videos of traditional poi dancing and told us more about maori poi and the songs and dances that go with it. Apparently the most popular "traditional" songs are actually based on popular western tunes from last century. He says the more traditional compositions often didn't "stick." The Maori seem pretty hip to change.

Yes, that's right, I've been in New Zealand for several days. Internet access has been infrequent and expensive, so this is my first blog.

I met Dan at the airport, and we rendezvoused with Jocelyn at the New Excelsior Hostel in downtown Christchurch. After a couple days of exploring/errands (during which time we saw our first sheep), we rented a car and took off to see some sights. The first exotic New Zealand location: The Moeraki Boulders, halfway down the east coast...

On Wednesday I had the great pleasure of meeting Dawn Nathan, a very friendly Maori woman living in Vancouver, BC.

Dawn came to North America 30 years ago with five other Maori performers. They spent years performing traditional Maori song and dance at schools in Los Angeles. Dawn later moved to Vancouver with some of the others. She visits New Zealand most years...