Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay

About the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay

The Tibetan Freedom Torch is a symbol of the hopes and aspirations of the Tibetan people for freedom and justice, and of the commitment of people around the world to helping achieve this goal.
The Freedom Torch will be carrying a message of truth and resistance through more than 50 cities between March 10th and August 8th, at which point it will reach the border of occupied Tibet on the day that the Olympics begin in Beijing.
The Olympic torch should embody the ideals of peace and harmony for all, but this year, the Chinese government is trying to use the Olympic torch relay to cover up its brutal occupation of Tibet and abysmal human rights record in China and abroad. At the same time, the International Olympic Committee has rejected Tibetan representation at the Olympics.
The alternative Tibetan Freedom Torch relay gives voice to the true ideals of Tibetans and the dreams of all people of conscience: dreams of freedom, justice, and human rights for all. The flame of Tibetan freedom will burn in all our hearts until Tibetans are once again free to determine their future in their own land.

"Light the Passion, Share the Dream, Freedom and Justice for Tibet”

tashidelek.co.nz

This week the Freedom torch arrived in New Zealand from Mexico. On Monday (a very wet and windy Monday!) the torch came through Nelson. I had hoped to get some great shots but unfortunately conditions were bad due to the ghastly weather. Still the run went ahead and despite the awful day there was still a good turnout and a lot of support :)

The torch leaves NZ next week bound for Taiwan.

We saw a Kakapo!!!!

I have to admit that up until this weekend I did not have a clue what a Kakapo was, and for the benefit of anybody else as ignorant as me I'll tell you.

The Kakapo is a bird, but it is not like any bird you have ever seen, it is so amazing, it just looks like some made up mythical creature. The Kakapo only lives in New Zealand and long ago they could be found all over the country. For millions of years NZ was only inhabited by bird and reptiles so the Kakapo did not learn the defense mechanisms to escape or combat mammalian predators. The arrival of Polynesian peoples thousands of years ago, of Europeans in the 1800's, and ultimately the pets and livestock they brought with them resulted in the massive decline of Kakapo populations from hundreds of thousands to a mere handful of birds.

Back in the 1970s the Kakapo was believed to be extinct, then some were discovered living on remote islands off the shore of NZ. These islands are the only place in the world where the Kakapo has no predators and can live safely.

Thanks to the Kakapo recovery programme there are now 91 Kakapos alive and thriving.

Back in April seven chicks hatched on one of the islands, these were transferred to a sanctuary here in Nelson to ensure their survival. Sadly one of the chicks died but the remaining six thrived. Now at 10 weeks old they are about to be taken back to their island. Last weekend the sanctuary had a big open day so everyone could go and say goodbye to them. The girls really wanted to go, so we took them up on Sunday. Honestly nothing could have prepared us for the sight of them, they have to be one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. If you could imagine a cross between an owl and a parrot, the size of a rooster with zero coordination you'd be somewhere near! They were truly beautiful and I feel so privileged to have actually seen them up close - And guess what? I didn't take my camera :(

The Kakapo is so rare that all of the 91 living birds have names, check them out here, and this is a link to the Kakapo Recovery Programme, it is a really interesting site, go have a look.

A Bad Month

Crikey it's been ages since I posted on here.
Last month has been really crap, I think the stress of the past six months finally caught up with us. Up till now we have been pretty much working on auto pilot and really just getting on with what had to be done to set up the business, house etc.

The new international website was finally launched a few weeks ago and I think it was only then that we realized the enormity of what we have taken on. After thirteen years of trading in the UK we have a database of over 12,000 customers, we get by on repeat orders and word of mouth recommendations. In terms of promotion we don't have to do very much at all.
When we first saw the new database set to zero it was just so scary! and it really hit home that we were in a country where nobody has a clue who we are or what we do. It is like going right back to square one, and it is sobering. We have no guarantees that we can make this work.
This month has been a round of see-sawing emotions, one day we are elated by the challenge of doing something new, then the next day we are worrying about what will happen if we can't pull this off. Ultimately we always seem to come back to the old cliche that 'you'll never know if you don't just go for it.'

It is going to be a long up hill struggle and certainly the biggest challenge that we have ever faced. I am having real problems coping with the lack of technology! New Zealand is a good ten years behind the UK when it comes to Internet usage, we were aware of that but I don't think we realised how much it was going to affect us. Dial up Internet is still very common here, broadband is taking off but finding an ISP who could provide the monthly bandwidth that we use has been very difficult. We have also had to resort to hosting the website on our UK server because there is just nobody in this country who can host a site that is the size of ours. It is things like this that you just don't anticipate that makes the whole thing more complicated than it should be.

Overall though, we are still mostly optimistic and looking forward to the challenge of taking on this New World.

Feijoas

One of the first things that we do when we land in a new country, is head for the local supermarket! We just love discovering strange new fruit and vegetables that we have never seen before.
Needless to say Thailand and Singapore had an abundance of weird and wonderful produce to try. I have to admit I am starting to miss having the fridge full of (cheap) exotic tropical fruit, especially 'Pomelos' they were my favorite. They are huge things, about the size of a basket ball and taste like a very sweet grapefruit. They are exceptionally hard to peel but well worth the effort.
The one that none of us miss is the dreaded 'Durian' This hideous fruit is so popular out in the East, I have to confess to never actually daring to try it, but if you smelt it you'd know why. The stench from them is stomach churning and totally overpowering.

The only thing that we have discovered here in New Zealand that I've never seen before are these things on the left. They are called 'Feijoas' they are quite popular here as a lot of people grow them in their gardens. Poppy went to her friends house the other day and came home with a bag full, so I took a picture of them! The kids love them but I am not too keen, they are very, very sweet with quite an artificial taste, not unlike Passion fruit.
Everything else here is similar to what is available in the UK except it is so unbelievably fresh.
So with no new fruit and vegetables to try, we are working our way through the local wines instead!

A Day Out

Hi everyone, I know it has been ages since I last updated this, but we haven't really done much, most days been spent unpacking and working on the house. It's coming together now though, we have managed to decorate the two downstairs living rooms and both the girls bedrooms. We have also employed an architect to draw up plans for the major renovation work that needs doing upstairs. In New Zealand you need planning permission for just about everything, so until the plans are draw up and approved we can't really get on with the big jobs.
The main work is in the bathrooms, currently we only have one bathroom in the house and it is ghastly! We are planning to remove the entire roof from it and build a new gable so that the bathroom can have a high 'cathedral' ceiling with skylights. We are also turning the existing sun room into an en suite bathroom and extending the veranda upstairs to create a sun deck off the new bathroom. So we will most likely be busy for some time yet!

We have managed to get out twice though since we've been here! A few weeks ago we went to the 'Gypsy Fair' which was great. They are a big group of travellers that tour New Zealand throughout the summer months, they pull into towns along the way and make money by performing, selling crafts, reading palms etc. You should see the vans that they live in, they are so awesome, there were a couple of them for sale and the head of the group was looking for people to join them for the next tour! I tell you it is a good job that we have bought this house and couldn't afford to buy one of those vans because I would have been off like a shot. I'd so love to go and join the Gypsy's, even if it was just for a year or two - maybe next year :)

Last weekend we went up to our local Tibetan Buddhist centre, they have a wonderful meditation centre in the hills, it is an amazing place. It was their annual family music day, which was a lovely event and such a huge turn out. it has been years since I've seen so many happy and colourful people in one place.

If you check out the sidebar you'll see that I've added a few links. One is to some sites that have loads of info about Nelson, so if you want to know some more about where we live, check them out. The other one is a current weather forecast! You can see it is actually about 20 degrees warmer here than the UK but I am still freezing!!!!

Pic above is of one of the Gypsy Vans, the name on the side is 'Sewerside Farm' lol! that really amused me.

Gypsy Dancer, this girl has a really gorgeous tattoo on her foot. I am planning to get flowers tattooed on my feet soon :)

Drummer from the music day.

Lu painting a Tsa Tsa (image of Buddha) at the music day (she is going to send this to the young monk that we sponsor at Kopan Monestary in Nepal)

No Torch In Tibet

No Torch In Tibet

One World, One Dream
“One World, One Dream” is China's Olympic slogan. But the reality of China's occupation of Tibet is a nightmare. Thousands of Tibetans are being arbitrarily detained, beaten and killed for speaking out for freedom.

The Game is Over.
On March 24th, China launched its Olympic Torch Relay. In the next two months, the torch will travel to cities around the world in a blatant attempt by the Chinese government to gain international acceptance and to divert attention away from its illegal occupation and current military crackdown inside Tibet.

As part of its global “Journey of Harmony,” the Chinese government plans to run the Olympic torch through Lhasa and other Tibetan territories, including to the top of Mount Everest, in a propaganda campaign designed to convince the world that Tibet belongs to China. Join thousands of people worldwide in calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to immediately withdraw Tibet from the torch relay route.