s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

This last weekend was Waitangi day, a general holiday. Waitangi day celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The treaty was and is the document on which Maori-European relations are based. It continues to be a source of great controversy for some.

(Did not bring the digital camera, so no pictures this time!)

Cantebury Faire is the biggest SCA event held in NZ, and everybody who can go, does. It runs Thursday through Sunday, and is held about an hour north of Chirstchurh on the South ISland. We took the early ferry on Thursday morning to drive down. And early means early, like departing at 3 AM! Waking up at 1 AM was not easy, but at least we could sleep on the ferry. We then caravaned down to the site with Steve and Jennifer (stopping at all their usual places for fod and bathroom breaks). We made it to the site about 11 AM, too late for the morning battles, but with plenty of time to set up the Yurt and amke it to lunch.

The event had about 140 people in total, which was a ncie size as you could actually meet many of the people personally. Which of course led to name-overload by day 2. Some things of note about the event (I am sure Tam can add some more)

-the fighting was a great deal of fun. ALl the war-events were based on period battles, mainly French-English. We defended bridges, we crossed moats (advancing on knees to a defended obstacle), we divided our forces to defend towns. It was a hoot! We had about 30 fighters at our peak. More would have been nice, but that was enough to get some rudimentary unit-tactics going. The small size did mean I got a chance to meet most of the fighters. (Insert scene of Stephen trying to hold a doorway vs the King and the Earl Marshal- now insert the sound of harp seals being clubbed on the beach- you get the picture!) At times the field was 50% knights, which made life very interesting.

-Tam made a new door for the Yurt. A candy-striped weasel-tiger. We have to get a digital photo on line so that description makes sense. People really thought it was cool, and told us so.

-The other fighters really liked the suit of scales (the “pine cone”), both distinctive and stylish! :)

-Shopping was mediocre, due to small size. We did sell some Alpaca fiber to some spinners/weavers.

-Archery was pretty fun, but unfortunately it came early in the event and we did not have time to practice.

-I got to have a fun Katana vs Katana duel with Daemon, the Earl Marshal, who did Iajitsu in the past. Very fun exchanges, and entertaining for the crowd too, I think!

We did discover that the SCAians here have a much stronger bardic tradition than anything we remember form SCA either in Philly or Boston (not that we were that involved, but we did make it to the odd event). Saturday evening a large group of people met in the Mangy Mongol, their coffee house, to sing songs, tell stories, and recite poems. Many of the works were orginal, tales people have been crafting (sometimes for months or years) about their barony or persona. Quite cool, but Tam can tell more about what all happened as I eventually got tired and went to bed.

The meal-plan rocked. For a small sum of money ($12/day) we had all meals provided. Good food, and as period as they could make it. The place also had cabins, as many people simply flew in bringing their garb. I may need to make myself a low-mass suit of armor if I ever want to go to Australia to fight, as the weight limits on the plane would preclude bringing the dependable (but heavy) Pine Cone suit.

On Sunday Closing Court ran over time (no surprise!), which unfortunately meant that the Belly-dancing for Men class was canceled. We had already packed our belongings, so we hopped int he Ute and headed north, stopping in Cheviot on the way to look at the Cathedral Rocks, and in Kaikoura for dinner. It was nice that most of the drive was done in daylight, so we could admire the lovely views. The ferry was about 30 minutes late leaving, so we got into Wellington about 2:45, and got home about 3:10. Only to get up 3 hours later and go to work. Long weekend, but very fun. We are both looking forward to next year.