it takes a village to raise a heather

It takes a whole village to raise a Heather and I just revisited a special village Aunt from my childhood.  We don't need more therapists in our village. We already have lots living amongst us.    Spent a healing magical week there.  Was also nursing a wound on the fleshy part of foot for a month.  I dislike wearing shoes and so I hadn't been giving it time to heal.   

Turns out I didn't need a tetanus shot, antibiotics or professional help (subjective I know).   Just a couple of caring village Aunts.   

A friend of theirs dropped some cream off which was very poignant (pic attached).

Once foot felt better we went back into the Catlins for the day.  I don't think I can stand on the Petrified Forest often enough.

I decided to go for a drive solo one day with no Google maps and ended up in Bluff.  On a sunny day I sat and chatted to an 83 year old woman called Noelene for an hour.  A young man asked if we knew where the famous signpost was.   Typical,  I didn't even know it was metres from me and I was parked facing it.  

Enroute to Fiordland I parked up at Monkey Island Beach and finally caught up with a seasoned traveler who has been living on the road for four years now. 
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What saddens me the most is the vast amount of farmland everywhere I go and lack of Native forests.