Home, Land and Sea

Early morning, Hobsonville Point. Image: Su Leslie, 2106. Edited with Snapseed.

Home from the energy and bustle of Melbourne, I find myself in need of the moments of quiet to be found on the edge of the Waitemata Harbour that enfolds the place I call home.

Winter is almost here, bringing a dawn that is virutally monochrome — perfect for this week’s black and white theme at Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge.

Boats moored off Greenhithe, early morning. Image: Su Leslie, 2016. Edited with Snapseed.

I couldn’t think of a better song to celebrate my homecoming than Home, Land and Sea, by Wellington band Trinity Roots. Singer Warren Maxwell introduces the song in this video by quite simply saying “this is about our beautiful country, Aotearoa.”

The song’s opening line, “From the tail of the fish to the top” references the Maori creation myth; that Aotearoa New Zealand was fished from the sea by the god Maui. The South Island is his waka (canoe) while the North Island is the fish itself.

Look at a map of the country — it’s not hard to visualise this. Of course, Maori told this story without benefit of written maps, let alone satellite imagery.