Bright and early on Saturday morning, 5 girls, Yoshi, Miho (centre member) and I walked up to the hilltop to view the sunrise on a beautiful cloudless day! We then started another busy day:

• View the sunrise
• Breakfast (toast, fruit, yoghurt, etc)
• Peace activities: A series of discussion activities and songs on peace
• Scone and breadmaking
• Tour of the large garden area
• Lunch: Coconut curry soup, salad, fresh bread
• Departure for a nearby beach area
• Collecting shellfish (mussels, cockles), swimming, games, followed by a BBQ

We finally arrived back in Nelson at about 9pm, where all the homestay families were waiting. A memorable two days, a nice chance to spend time together, and a rare opportunity to experience a community living their ideals in a very tangible way.

Over the last few days, we’ve had an amazing stay at the Riverside Community [website]. This is an alternative community near Nelson based on the ideas of pacifism and cooperative living. They have a property of about 200ha on which they raise animals, fruit, and vegetables, run a cafe, host events, plus other businesses. We were invited to stay in their community centre, and spent two days learning about the community, sharing in their day-to-day activities, and taking part in activities and games to develop our awareness of the centre’s goals. Here is a short summary of our first day there:

• Greeting: We started by meeting many of the members, plus learning about the centre
• Tour: We then went on a tour of the property, specifically stopping at the cafe for muffins and drinks, and going to the dairy farm to see cows being milked
• Cheese making: We made 4 blocks of Paneer cheese (which we BBQed the next day – delicious!)
• Dinner: One of the members prepared an Israeli meal (hummus, falafel, etc followed by apple crumble)… really yummy food!
• Activities: We sang songs together and did some collaborative games in the centre
• Free time: That evening, there was a gathering of many of the members and other guests around a fire in the courtyard. Lots of singing and dancing… Haru did an amazing fire dance!

Everyone finally went to bed around 2:30! The girls all slept together in a the large communal centre while Yoshi and I stayed in a lodge.