Stone Carving and Feasting

Sunday, 25 July, 2004 by Donna V. Whitmore

More movie making!! I did my first story on Auntie Pauline. It started out pretty easy, got harder, then easier again. I finished it up in the late afternoon, then snuck off for another short nap before we left for Donna and Glen's home for dinner.

What a beautiful place! Donna and Glen live about a half hour from New Plymouth. After being welcomed to their home and meeting the other dinner guests, Glen took us for a walk down to a creek near their home. It was a beautiful place; the creek meanders through meadows and clumps of trees and reminded me of places in Arizona we visited as kids, though this place was definitely greener!

We returned to the house and met Nicholas, a Maori stone carver, his wife and children. Nick gave us a demonstration of stone carving, which is another very beautiful art practiced by Maori artists. Nick collects the stones he carves from Mount Taranaki. He, like Morgan and the other Maoris we have met, is sweet, gentle, proud and generous with his culture and skills. After his demonstration of stone carving, Nick presented each of us with a pumice stone and a simple screw. He explained how easily stone carving can be learned by carving on a soft pumice stone. We each began our carvings—some artsy folk among us even finished their stones—before being called to dinner.

Dinner was a feast! We ate Maori purple potatoes, roasted yams, onions, white potatoes, vegetarian pasta, mussels, lamb stew and pumpkin soup, followed by a wonderful dessert with ice cream. I am sure I left out a number of dishes, because there was so much food! And it was an epicurian delight!!

After dinner, Nicholas presented each of us with a woven flax bag containing a stone he had carved. Then his boys treated us to the Haka — a traditional Maori dance. We had a fantastic time with all these folks; Donna and Glen are very gracious, interesting and giving; Nick and his family were very congenial and so at ease with so many strangers; and Donna and Glen's other guests were delightful! Everyone had a super time!