October Holiday~ The Stables Ōtaki 2024

 It's funny how some things come and go while other things become a steady thread through our lives- when I spotted The Stables on Bookabach, surrounded by bluebells, I presumed it was in England. How amazing it was to find that, in fact, The Stables was set in a native plant nursery in Otaki on the Kapiti Coast. On our first visit one autumn we explored the history and the provenance of the place and got a feel for the area. We loved that holiday so much we booked to return in the following spring in the time of the bluebells.

Emerging in to spring and transitioning in to daylight saving seems like a perfect time to have a break from home, so this early October we ventured back to the Kapiti Coast once more. We discovered that the food at Hatuma cafe just out of Waipukurau is excellent so we stopped to buy some lunch for the journey. Just down the road I spotted a glorious lilac bush.

Can't you just smell that funky lilac perfume!

We took back roads for a good while- amazing what you get to see along the way.

A knobbly interesting hill.

And then here we are passing by Oruawharo- a grand old homestead with a fascinating history.

A pause just before Norsewood at a scenic reserve for lunch.

And then here we are back again at The Stables and we're not too late to enjoy the bluebells. 

Gently fragrant.

Mysteriously the flowers under the trees are beginning to fade, yet the blooms around the stables are still in fine form.

Bluebells with a little lily of the valley from home.

Wild lilac from the fence line at Takapau golf course.  

The flowers had wilted badly by the time we arrived yet once I'd squished the bottom of the stems and put them in water they perked up just fine and lasted the week.

Such a perfect little watercolour of The Stables.

The minute we step through the door we feel right at home.

Rob's little room down stairs- he's a ripper of a snorer don't you know!

And a room in "the attic".

With plenty of space- light and airy.

So much wonderful bird life all through the garden- a mix of exotics and natives.

We were ecstatic to find Kumarahou in bloom on our last visit and here it was again.

In fact, Stephen has four different kinds of Kumarahou growing here, including a rare prostrate form.

And now we recognise Kohekohe, no problem at all. So many saplings and seedlings flourishing throughout the arboretum.

On a beautiful bluebird sky day we stopped to make a cup of tea and then headed to The Forest down near Otaki beach.

The most profound serendipity the day we stumbled on this magical wild space.

A forest full of crazy trees and plants that are intentionally neglected as there is no particular plan for the land now that the Children's Health Camp has closed. And so the freedom and joy live on amidst the friendly trees. 

Just an armless angel in the woods.

The climbing asparagus weed is prolific through this part, enmeshed with an abundance of spleenwort.

The macrocarpa trees were progressively planted back from the 1930s and are now forest giants. 

Well trodden paths meander off in all directions through the forest. Occasionally there's a dead end due to fallen branches or trees, but mostly the paths all meet up somewhere.

Every time the journey is a little different as we randomly allow ourselves to be "lead up and down the garden path".

It doesn't take long at all before joy and lightness begin to bubble up inside you as you settle in to presence in this extraordinary place. 

I'm glad to see that the graffitti is wearing off now but the welcome swallows remain clear and strong. 

It always occurs to me as we wander here that if you should ever be lost or homeless this place would provide perfectly useful food for a good long time. There's so much happy naturalised New Zealand spinach here even growing in under the deep shade of the trees.

Young spleenwort leaves are very palatable and taste much like lettuce.

Not much has changed since our last visit.

As we near the beach the landscape opens out in to grassy sand dunes with a predominance of pinus radiata and a lot of the prickly old boxthorn bushes.

Then suddenly there is sparaxis en masse happily blooming away.

And as we burst out of the forest pathways we were greeted by a magnificent sight of glistening white wild onion flowers.

And then everywhere we turned- here they were, millions upon millions of them. Yet more marvelously free food.

Kapiti island on a gloriously clear day.

Scented geraniums nicely tucked in to the sand dunes.

So pretty in bloom.

Wild onion flowers are even quite bridal really. Not so much their "perfume".

And then back in to the forest we went, along the other side.

Finally sweeping down through the pine trees and out to the road.

Feels a lot like returning from Narnia!

On our way back to The Stables we were forced to take a detour due to road works. Being made to go out of your way can seem inconvenient and irritating, yet sometimes it can actually provide the next serendipitous event. So sweeping down the road I was suddenly arrested by the most amazing sight and declared that we absolutely had to go back and see the house I had spotted again in the morning.

After our morning coffee we returned to try and remember our detour route in reverse and then on seeing vibrant colour straight ahead we parked a little way down the road, after all if we were going to be nosey we didn't want to offend anyone, looking like we were creeping around! Seeing the sign on the gate made us laugh out loud.

 

Even though we saw the signs "No stupid people"at the gate we still wandered up the driveway to ask what was going on & would it be ok for us to take a few photos. What we didn't expect was to meet Ramila: 'artist, challenging status quo, truth seeker.' Apparently we were brave to visit.

But what a glorious encounter we had.

A garden filled with zany exuberance, joy & nourishment & a woman of passion, courage & self determination.

The daughter of market gardeners Jamila has transformed this ordinary suburban home with lawn in to an oasis of vitality. 

Over the years creativity has ruled and along with every act of creative expression has come truth expressed and healing.

The garage is an art studio.

Splashes of colour, wit and wild imagination everywhere we turned.

The application of loads and loads of arborists mulch over a sustained period has lead to a wonderful fertile medium in which now grows an abundance of food through all seasons.

A woman of heart, courage and principle we loved Jamila's stories of getting herself arrested in order to make a point and educate others while out there in the public eye. Her use of swastikas in her art have ruffled more than a few feathers but as she points out the swastika is an ancient symbol of well-being or good fortune belonging to and appreciated by many ancient cultures.

She's also spent seven years helping out down at the school garden just down the road.

The blues and borage zone.

All is art, it's just stuff.

There's been a trend for quite some time in the garden tour world to exhibit garden sculptures amidst the borders, well I bet there's none that look like these anywhere else to be found. 

Glorious individualism.

Oh my goodness, even as I write this I have only just seen the animals sitting over the door.

So much vitality and fruitfulness.

The old-fashioned Ixias are a perfect floral appointment for the entrance. I wonder if the postie gets confused?

I admire Jamilias sovereignty and unabashed- 'I'll say and paint what I like and who cares what anyone else thinks.' approach. 

In "lock down" the footpath was painted/spattered too. This act incurred Jamila a fresh court appearance and makes me roar with laughter. I use rose petals in lieu of paint and leave dinosaurs and other oddities outside our gate for children to find. 

What a truly splendid visit.

Just down the road a bit heading south is Te Horo. We cancelled our Lindsay farm milk order at home and remembered to take our own clean glass bottles and coins so we could fill them with raw milk at this fabulous and funky farm gate dispenser.  

As it turns out there were free range eggs "on tap" as well.

Pick your number and win!

Our next stop was here at Barry Hadfield Nikau Reserve. That was nice I thought- a little stroll amidst the Nikau palms. Ahem, intrinsically the reserve comprises a flight of endless stairs to the top of a hill and a look out.

Yes, we did enjoy the lovely palms and met up with Marianne as we started our walk and we were very glad of the well made steps.

We all chatted away as we headed up and up...

 and soon we were passing through the Kohekohe forest. Kohekohe are fascinating native trees that many people have never heard of. They seem to thrive down Kapiti way. The trees produce fragrant flowers and fruits that emerge out of their trunks in winter time. This phenomena is known as cauliflory. Kohekohe is also a valued rongoā (medicinal) plant, most useful for female issues and balance. There's an excellent teaching here.

The day was murky and cool which was just as well with the strenuous climb. The view was interesting but not impressive with the cloud and particular light on the day so I just snapped this view out to sea. Marianne was great company, we were glad to have walked the track together.

Later we took a turn off to Te Horo beach and could honestly say that the most interesting part was spotting the wonderful bird murals on the public toilets

and our own afternoon tea.

This was also fun to find- silene vulgaris, bladder campion. As it turns out it's a usefully forageable and edible plant. There's a good write up about it here.

Not somewhere we fancied returning to in a hurry. Although we had forgotten about the Bus Stop Cafe on Simms road. Not open the days we were there but we must return for a coffee one day.

Interesting to see a cluster of Indian hawthorn plants growing in sand dunes and thriving.

The rest was pretty bleak.

We also wandered along the banks of the Otaki river while we were there. Either side eventually takes you out to meet the sea.

Lots of pretty wild radish and mustard in bloom.

A grand open skies kind of walk.

Lovely space to ride horses.

The next morning we popped in to the hospice shop in Levin and fond a fabulous botanical print duvet. Well a hugely heavy duvet that was really more a feather mattress topper that weighed a ton and would surely squash old ladies! We negotiated our way out of the topper part and came home with a Sheridan duvet that we rather fancied as a summer picnic tablecloth. Fortunately- a man who unashamedly adores florals too!

Coming through Shannon I spotted two things: this arresting mural...

and roadside hangi for sale. We stopped and parked and had a chat with the two hangi makers. Apparently raising money to go on a church visit to Hawaii. Good on them. Fun korero.

And then we found ourselves in The Manawatu and that is another chapter.