This morning I walked to the public library. I enjoy stopping at local libraries because you can tell something about the fabric of the community from it. This library mostly had novels and fiction as well as local lore. In Australia and New Zealand, many of the smaller libraries are catalogued alphabetically by author. You don't find a difference in subject matter the way you would in a bookstore like Borders or Barnes and Noble.
I noticed that the cows have the best property. All along the coast, the cows roam freely. This would be expensive prime property in the U.S. The values are mercifully different here.
It is neat to see people horseback riding. I sense it is not strictly for entertainment. We don't have man sheep in New Zealand anymore. There used to be 40 million, but now we are down to 22 million because few people are importing lamb. It is lovely to see the sheep run along the hillsides.
Each day in town there is a deep reverberating gong. It is the clock to tell us that it is noon meridien.
I visited the parish school today. There are 128 students in it and the classes are mostly grouped into 2 grades. It is a small school but the kids are very well-behaved and respectful and they were very diligent in their work. I'll say Mass for two of the classes tomorrow. It was a little cool outside today and the kids were running through the fields with no shoes on. They walked into the classroom with bare feet. They are amazingly rugged people.
I said Mass in Pangarehu this evening. These folks are very kind. I met one man from the Netherlands who grew up with another boy from the same town and school. They both migrated to this area and have been friends all their life.
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