Its all in a name
Nothing I say can explain to you divine love yet all of creation can’t stop talking about it. –Rumi
The name of our place had its roots in impecunity, illuminated by meaning
My parents used to own a place in Bombay Hills, which my mum named “Amuarangi”. At the time, I had no idea what it meat but I did like the cast iron sign she got custom made. That was a long time ago.
In recent times, the sign had been unceremoniously propped up in one of a series of pot plant holders, neighbor to more bonafide residents, pansies and impatients.
The idea to revive the sign came after hearing the children refer to the land as ‘the land’ for the 20 millionth time. It put me off in the way that people call their wife “the wife” or the mrs “the Mrs”.
So the obsession for a name began. My Indian, money saving brain soon kicked in. By my calculations, if we put the Amuarangi sign out of its potted colour misery, we would also have a new name for ‘the land’ and save at least $450 getting a sign made, not to mention the stress out of coming up with an original name that did not sound like a postie plus perfume. After swift deliberations with my mum took place “ Hey mum, can I have your sign?, “it was a fait accompli. The land was officially Amuarangi.
Oh yeah….then I started to think about the meaning. I was hoping that it didn’t mean something weird like where twits with halitosis and killer clowns come to mate. But with a saving of $450, I was prepared to wear it, head held high. Its not like I was naming a poor child Portia or Kennedy! Google it, I dare you.
To my relief, my mum used a bit of artisitic license and saw Amuarangi to mean, arrival…at this place. Now I dug the mysterious vibe she had going on. But also didn’t really get what she was on about, so decided to do a bit of research and create my own interpretation.
Our vision
Hospitality
We feel extremely fortunate with the lives, opportunities and privileges we have had in life so our vision for Amuarangi has always been to share in the joy of this place with others. Before moving down full time, we shared ideas with close family friends (who have actually built their own adorable tiny house on Amuarangi) about using the land as a place for restoration and spiritual renewal. Our ideas went from hosting affordable or no cost retreats, camps, weekend escapes to just a space where we can offer people the opportunity to take a weekend away and just enjoy being together.
New years filled with Joy and laughter as over 40 people camped and celebrated the new year in at Amuarangi
Sustainability
Parallel to this, we have planted an orchard with over 30 fruit trees and have just recently created hugelkultur mounds to plant seasonal vegetables year round. We have fresh eggs every day and to my son’s horror (who is a self confessed, part-time vegetarian), we have a few baby roosters who will at some point end up as food. The concept of knowing where our food comes from makes tremendous sense so I look forward to mucking in and developing our own little Garden of Eden.
Our Hugelkulter mounds, an affordable way to grow a vegetable garden
Waste not want not
The idea of wastage in modern life really bugs me, but being a marriage of convenience, I often give in and make excuses for my wasteful decisions, whether it buying another dress at the op shop because it was only $3 and stuffing it into my already heaving wardrobe to driving 400 meters down the road to the fish and chip shop to order dinner, using plastic bags at the supermarket because I forgot my reusable ones, buying vegetables on sale at the local greengrocer only to have them rot in the fridge or wasting hours scrolling though Facebook becoming envious of other peoples lives rather than spending time talking with my own family. I am not the kind who lives life in guilt for doing these things and I am no greeny Nazi either but Iiving small and being conscious of small decisions impacting bigger picture things is something I want to focus on this year
My allocated clothes cupboard. Every family member gets a total of 2 cupboards to house their clothes
Divine Love
Ok , I am going to get all tree huggie now. The quote by Rumi pretty much sums up the impact that being close to nature has on me. The fact that we are below a sacred maunga, surrounded by bush with the river, the veins of our land almost on our doorstep, fills me with awe, peace , hope and perspective. Modern life now dismisses the Spiritual part of humanity as being mambo jumbo, but being here, I cant help but feel the love of the creator through creation and realise that I am but one small yet important blip of eternity
My son enjoying some quiet time
Amuarangi
To me, heaven (rangi) would be made up of a motley bunch that looks out for one another, which share, who laugh, cry and do mahi together. It would be filled with people who respect the land and each other and their differences, who appreciate the small and simple things valuing the journey as well as the destination,even if that process takes a bit longer. It would have a garden filled with sun ripened vegetables and fruit with enough to share. There would be someone random at the dinner table in need of a feed , shelter or company and there would always be space for them.
This is my vision for Amuarangi meaning
…close to heaven
My morning walk