SATURDAY 19 MARCH - With the Storytellers of Hamilton and Cheering the Blues in Auckland

It was a very special pleasure today to be able to catch up with David and Sasha Woodcock. We had met very briefly back on 29 October 2010 at the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California where David and Sasha were attending a course developing their knowledge of the subject. See blog entry for 29 October (posted on 1 November 2010). They had invited me to contact them when in New Zealand and once I had done so they very kindly invited me to visit them at their home. It was a great pleasure also to meet their digital storytelling partner Elaine Bliss. Elaine is currently studying for a PhD in Digital Storytelling, looking at the application of this art form in many social contexts. Over lunch we discussed our mutual interest in the subject and my research into how digital storytelling with older people can be used as a powerful therapeutic tool and a key ingredient in intergenerational linkage between younger people and their elders.


Elaine, David and Sasha.
We found we had much to share in terms of our common interests. We resolved to continue to maintain and strengthen our links and help to build the art of storytelling with older people both in New Zealand and beyond. It is a powerful, positive creative art form and medium that holds great potential for promoting the preservation of dignity, self esteem and personhood amongst older people.

From Hamilton it was back on the road again for the final leg of my whistle stop journey through New Zealand. An hour and a half later I checked into the Royal Park Motel in Auckland. Time for only a brief rest before being picked up by my former fellow IAHSA Study Tour colleague Duncan McDonald, CEO of The Selwyn Foundation. Duncan, together with his wife Julie, had kindly agreed to take me to the Eden Park Stadium for a key rugby fixture between the Auckland "Blues" and the Wellington "Hurricanes".


It was another great Kiwi experience and a chance to make some more charming new acquaintances amongst the fans on the way into the stadium!


The match was a great showcase of open, free flowing rugby and the result was a resounding victory for the "Blues".


I am now confirmed as a "Blues" fan for life and will watch with added interest when the World Cup Final is played in this magnificent stadium in September.

Location:Auckland