_______________ BANKS PENINSULA - TURANGAWAEWAE _______________

The word Turangawaiwai in Te Reo (The Maori Language) means "The Place Where I Stand". This is a reference to where a person has their formative years. It is the geographic place that has formed them. The area of Banks Peninsula and the city of Christchurch in the province of Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand is my Turangawaiwai.

I was prompted to do this post because of the very good series 'COAST NEW ZEALAND' which is currently showing on TV1 here in New Zealand on Monday nights.

This link is to a 'Coast New Zealand' episode that focuses on Banks Peninsula.

To get the link to work Shipmates, just click on it and then sign up which only involves typing in your email address and a password (You can then watch 'TV1 On Demand' ad infinitum.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/coast-new-zealand/episodes/s2017/e5

Moving from the left in the picture - The mighty Waimakariri River, the city of Christchurch with its esturary opening out to the sea and the unique Banks Peninsula formed from two ancient volcanic cones. This is where I lived, had my being and was formed not only by the social fabric of the society that I was raised in, but by the very landscape itself.

The sea, the peninsula, the estuaries, the plains and the distant Southern Alps - they all paint a picture that is part of my story.

We all have our own precious, formative story. We all have our own Turangawaiwai.