In his prime I estimated that he must have been fully 6 foot 8 in his bare feet a giant of a man. He only had one arm .. one sliced cleanly off at the shoulder joint.

When I asked � he told me that he lost it in a shotgun accident. I asked again and he said " nothing sinister, I had called into a Pakeha homestead with my rabbit � this is tradition he said .. always carry the gift of food". The child of the homestead curious about the shotgun as it stood held between Bills legs, pulled the trigger .. bye bye arm !

That did not stop Bill .. he could load a shotgun cartridge between his toes as quick as I could blink. Not just any old store bought cartridge .. but a special in which the black powder was made with nitrites from his own urine evaporated in the sun and charcoal prepared from Manuka. The cartridges were always someone else's spent cartridge. Cartridge between his toes and with his good arm. ramming in his home made powder wadding and lead shot. Nothing was allowed to go to waste and no job left undone. The cartridge gave a powerful kick .. "sorry", said Bill .. "adjust the amount of powder to your height". 

New Zealand tobacco tastes quite different from the other tobaccos of the world and noting that I smoked (he did not) promptly gave me the Pakeha settlers recipe for tobacco .. let me share it with you just as he dictated it to me.

Bill Lords Recipe :
Always pick the bottom leaves (lugs) first � the higher up the plant the stronger the leaf. When you have an armful throw them in the corner and cover with a sack .. check and turn them everyday. If you are skilled, he said, the leaves at that point should have gone yellow. Don�t allow to overheat whilst yellowing. Kill the leaf by drying �

Take an old flower press and lay the leaves down singly. Paint it with the mixture of Whiskey and Honey and lay another leaf on top and paint again � and so on until you have made a 1 lb block. Tighten down the flower press until all is firm. With a sharp knife trim all the exposed edges. Each and everyday give the wing nuts on top of the flower press 1 turn per day � no more .. he said. It takes about 6 months .. when the press will tighten no more .. leave for 7 days .. remove from the press and store in an old biscuit tin. When you need tobacco slice thinly from the block (an old razor blade works fine) and rub it up between the palms .. it�s a good smoke he said � As always Bill was right.

-::-

His iron pot (camp oven) cooking was a joy. The smell of fresh cooked crusty bread lingering on the ambience. Oh and fruit cake as well, with scones and muffins fresh from the griddle. Bill's rabbit stew also deserves a mention .. for it stirs the gastric juices with memories of NZ Hare. Very different from the British variety �. succulent and so big � I could hold one by the hind legs and its ears would fold along the ground. What about the fish from NZ waters or the apples fresh picked  in season from Hawke's Bay .. Oranges from Kerri  ..Bluff oysters .. the mussels, pipis and kina .. ah I must not forget the bach at a special spot. Nearly all gone in a tidal wave of progress as the future is roiling on the beach and the developers trek to the bank.

One of my NZ teachers said to me � The people are waiting, the land is waiting � but the people and the land are sullied. I thought about the teachers words � and I thought of  a  NZ urban legend .. clean green NZ ? 

Aotearoa � the land of the long white cloud ? Is that long white cloud spraying from a crop dusters tanks ? .. for even organic will now become a matter of degree i.e. how much pesticide does it contain ? The planet is now contaminated from pole to pole with our women peeing hormones into the water supply. Our reservoirs are loaded with the run off from the farm land. Our gardens saturated in the toxins � and we did it �. but that is ok, so long as someone makes a dollar.

Hikurangi Northland
August 21^st 2004.