New Year’s eve tea at Awaawaroa, valley of the twin rivers

Along the East coast of New Zealand there is an island called Waiheke but whose real name is Te Ara Hura. Most of the population occupies the West half of the island, between Oneroa and Onetangi, the long beach and the beach of sounds.
But if you bother to continue past the beachfront village of Onetangi, take the road to Orapiu and behind the ridge of high hills turn right and follow the signs to Awaawaroa, you might just pass a little gate made of big sticks and overgrown with a very delicate pink geranium. Behind that gate laid the magical garden of story teller Tanya Batt.
When she’s not travelling the world from storytelling festival to storytelling festival, Tanya lives there with husband Peter.
I met Tanya a few summers ago when she was cycling from Denmark to the UK and passed through Belgium where my NZ friend was just staying with me.
Tanya and Peter have been gathering the most amazing plant to put together a garden for dreaming and nourishment.

Now I wouldn’t be telling you all this if I hadn’t been there. And I was there precisely for New Year’s Eve tea with my Waiheke friends. Just a few hours before the world would head into a new year, New Zealand first.
Check Tanya out on Facebook and on her website.
Here are some pictures of the afternoon and of some of the plants.

Awaawarea is also the name of the wetlands in this valley, wetlands where they have just spotted some rare fish that come spawning there.