Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend, brought to you by Coffee Supreme! This week, an excellent article by Venetia Shersontracks the demise of hitchiking. If you’ve ever been curious about trying out hitchhiking around the country, I have two impossible-to-replicate tips. First, when you are seven years old, go on your first hitchhiking trip with your mother, just a little jaunt to Napier for fun — I still remember cuddling a very cute dog called Bella in a car that picked us up. Second, try going out with my boyfriend, a hitchhiking lucky charm who gets guaranteed rides within 15 minutes. But maybe the reason no-one hitchhikes anymore is because they peruse articles all weekend instead — if that’s you, read on for more Napier, more dating advice, and more travel around Aotearoa.
After Cyclone Gabrielle hit her home town of Napier, potter Holly Morgan opened a space for locals to sit down, drink some tea, and make a pinch pot to take their mind off things. This morning, Alex Casey profiles Morgan, an apt pairing as Casey ‘s partner is a keen potter. “We absorbed a lot of Cyclone Gabrielle through the Instagram stories of his favourite Hawke's Bay potters,” Casey says of the impetus for the profile. “Given that potters in particular have a very unique relationship to the literal earth, we had a great conversation about what she learned from the experience, the importance of art and community in times of trauma, and the process of transforming that dreadful silt into something truly beautiful.”
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Thumbing a ride in the South Island (Supplied/Archi Banal)
Venetia Sherson was at a wedding in the Coromandel when theconversation turned to hitchhiking. Most of the younger people present had never stuck out a thumb to get a ride somewhere — but there are still hitchhikers around, she finds. “It’s boring travelling by bus or train or even rental car. You don’t meet other people,” says Martine Pointevin, an advocate for hitchhiking into middle age. Cheap alternatives, the boredom and unpredictability of waiting, and the risk of danger — multiple murders have been linked to hitchhiking here and overseas — may have contributed to a decline of the practice. That said, it might be a good option in a cost-of-living and climate crisis — if we can overcome the crisis of communal trust.
The story goes that Rata, a chief, was trying to build a waka. But when he returned to the tree he’d felled, it had put itself back together with the help of the creatures of the forest. Rata tried to stop them, asking why they were undoing his work. “Who gave you permission to fell this god of ours?” they replied. Airana Ngarewa recounts this storyas a reminder of the importance of karakia. “Karakia are about respect and acknowledging the mana inherent in all things. This includes our fellow man, forests, lakes, streams, mountains, the sky above and the earth below,” he writes. Whether opening a meeting, building a waka or sharing kai, karakia are a way to acknowledge connection to the world.
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Poet and classicist Claudia Jardine’s new book, Biter, is a collection of reinterpreted Greek poetry — and some are very very sexy. The advice hasn’t gone out of date, she argues, with this sample platterof material from the book. “More people need to know about these weird little guys and their heartbreaks and hot takes,” she says. If you want to impress a lover, with medieval techniques, there are lots of options. Make up new words! Experience a love like a pirate! Whisper secrets softly in their ear! It’s especially cool to see the Greek writing (which of course I don’t understand) beside the modern translations — love has a long history.
Idly gazing out the Intercity bus window, lost in a personal reverie, you suddenly spot something that pulls you back to where you are: a town slogan. Some are simple: Balclutha’s epithet “Big River Town” is very literal. Some are prescient: Norman Kirk wanted Rolleston to be the “town of the future” — five decades later, its population has boomed. Others try to manage expectations, like Hamilton’s moniker “more than you’d expect”. To my knowledge, only one has inspiredthe title of a book. Take a trip around Aotearoa with Tara Ward’s assessment of town slogans past and present.
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Shanti’s podcast corner: a wonderful episode about poet Maggie Smith’s alternate life (could not think of any related podcast to put in parentheses but I also loved this interview with Annabelle Lee-Mather and Mihingarangi Forbes)
