I love living in the South Island of NZ with its “wild south” vibe, shared most recently in my post on Inside Middle Earth: Driving To Edoras (yep, it’s also The Lord of the Rings country! 😉 )

Sometimes, though, the intersection of ocean and river, wind and tide, waves and land, can be wild indeed, as in this photo where it’s all blended close to one.

As the second photo gives you some idea, usually there is a distinct river, ocean shoreline, and two shingle banks to be seen, not just the one above — and even that fast disappearing:

The discoloration of the sea is the aftermath of the storm and flooding, and indicative of the level of shingle and runoff in the river’s journey from the mountains to the sea — which is pretty much how the Canterbury Plains formed, I believe.

As is my wont on the first of every month, I posted on the Supernatural Underground on December 1 – a post titled The Colour Blue & All of You, in which I reflected on the recent festival of Thanksgiving and the Skiffy and Fanty blog’s forthcoming Month of Joy.

The theme of “The Colour Blue” harks back to the Month of Joy post I contributed to Skiffy and Fanty’s celebration earlier this year, which I quote in part in my SU post.

The colour blue writ large…

The “all of you” part – well you might have to head on over to the SU and read what I have to say there. 😉

The Color Blue & All Of You!

However, I can tell you the origins of the phrase.  My understanding is that it goes back to British politics in the eighteenth century, at a time when the Whigs were one of the major political parties and blue was their party colour.

As the story goes, a Mrs Crewe was a famous political hostess at the time. During such an event, the following toast was made (reputedly by the Prince of Wales): “True blue and Mrs Crewe!” To which Mrs Crewe promptly replied: “True blue and all of you!”

So there you are, not just a blog post title and theme, but a title and theme with provenance. 🙂

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

A Geography of Haarth is a post series traversing the full range of gazetted locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.

Now it’s back to traverse the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.)  The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.

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Sailcloth Street: a thoroughfare in the town of Grayharbor

The three hooded figures came up Grayharbor’s Sailcloth Street just as the rain swept in off the sea for the second time that day. The deluge brought a swirl of leaves and rubbish down the deep gutters on either side of the cobbled thoroughfare, and all three leapt for the portico of Seruth’s temple where Faro had taken shelter.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 2 — The Serpent Street

The fact I’m a bit of a tree person has probably slipped out over the past few years… Perhaps not quite in the same league as Dame Judi Dench’s A Passion for Trees but I’ll still go out of my way to meet remarkable trees. (Btw, I’ve borrowed this phrase from Thomas Pakenham’s book of the same name.)

Recently, I went down to Peel Forest, just to the south of Canterbury’s Rangitata river to check out some of the remnant forest giants, specifically totara, kahikatea, and matai—and they were well well and truly worth the trip, imho. Their scientific names are Podocarpus totara (totara), Dacrycarpus dacrydioides (kahikatea or “white pine”) and Prumnopitys taxifolia (matai, or “black pine.”)

Totara, seen from the forest fringe

According to the Department of Conservation information on the Peel Forest Scenic Reserve, all three trees are of the “family Podocarpaceae, a very ancient family going back in time more than 100 million years.”

Light and shadow across a kahikatea’s trunk

Totara are also the theme of several Maori whakatauki or proverbs. One of the most well known is:
Kua hinga te tōtara i Te Waonui a Tāne — a tōtara has fallen in the great forest of Tāne
This saying is used to mark the passing of a great leader or chief.

Bark detail

Such individuals, when living,  may also be referred to as: tōtara haemata – a strong-growing tōtara.

“I saw you standing like a totara tree…”

I hope you get some sense of meeting them, too, through the photos.

Kahikatea

And for the record, these trees are likely to be many hundreds, if not thousands of years old. Awesome, huh?!

Gnarly…

The not-so-happy news is that human beings put paid to these trees in vast numbers, during the European settlement of New Zealand. The Peel Forest trees are only still with us (largely) because of the foresight of a “…visiting British MP, Arthur Mills…[who in 1881]…was so horrified by the forest devastation he bought 16 hectares of un-cut forest. On his death this became the embryo of the present Peel Forest Park.”

Yep, that’s a root (totara again)

The totara is also under threat from the depradations of the ringtail possum, an Australia import that has had a devastating effect on New Zealand’s endemic vegetation.

A matter of perspective: a totara tree and me.

It’s not exactly a proud record for NZ, but I am grateful that there are still some of these marvelous trees in places like Peel Forest.

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Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood simultaneously — in alphabetical order, of course!

(The quotes, together with the covers, indicate whether the character appears in both or only one of the books — and we’re back to a single entry today. 😉 )

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Gervon: a priest of Serrut and teacher — or “maister” — at Normarch, on Emer’s northern march

“The only cloud on the surface of his Normarch life was Maister Gervon, whose initial distance had quickly become outright hostility. Carick tried to stay out of the man’s way, but their paths kept crossing. He would turn a corner and find Gervon there, the man’s pale blue stare turning to ice when he recognized Carick—although the maister only spoke if there was no one else present to hear his sneers or acid-etched derision.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 14 — Maister Gervon

Rebecca Fisher

You all remember Rebecca, right? Well, some of you may not if you’re new round here, but Rebecca did a Big Worlds On Small Screens column here for three and a half years, looking at SFF TV shows.

And even though studies and career intervened in terms of posting here, Rebecca has maintained her own They’re All Fictional blog throughout where she still checks out TV shows and books, and keeps her finger on the pulse of the wild, wacky, and sometimes even obscure weird of fictional fandom.

There’s lots of fun and thoughtful stuff here, including this relatively recent post on Defying The Fridge — sparked by Catherynne M Valente’s The Refrigerator Monologues.

And if books are specifically your thing, remember that Rebecca is a reviewer on Fantasy Literature.com as well.

Rebecca on Fantasy Literature.com

So if you’ve been missing your Rebecca time, then you know now where to get your regular fix. 🙂

And if you haven’t met Rebecca yet, then here’s your opportunity: go on over, have a read, and maybe even say hello. 😉

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

A Geography of Haarth is a post series traversing the full range of gazetted locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.

Now it’s back to traverse the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.)  The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.

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River:  the lands along the Ijir river system, mainly comprising city states such as Ij, Terebanth, and Ar. Also known as the River lands.
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He, at least, seemed prepared for trouble, with the multiple braids of his hair clubbed into a knot and a pair of short, curved swords strapped to his back.  Asantir’s brows had risen again when she saw them, for swallow-tail swords were a weapon of Ishnapur. “And Jhaine,” Tarathan had answered, when she said as much, “but they are popular now in the cities of the River.”

~ from © The Heir Of Night, The Wall of Night Book One: Chapter 10 — In The Old Keep
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“Spring came to the River in a flurry of blustering winds and driving rain that turned the local roads into quagmires and hurled the first fragile blossoms to the ground. Two heralds were blown out of the city of Terebanth with the weather and turned east toward Ij, following the great Main Road that had endured since the days of the Old Empire. At any other season a river passage would have been faster, but the combination of contrary winds and spring floods, fed by snowmelt in the headwaters of the Ijir and the Wildenrush, would keep the merchant galleys in port for at least another month.”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 1 — The Road To Ij

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…the heralds had taken him to the great harborside market in Port Farewell. The market was famous for its trade in armor and weapons sourced from every corner of Haarth, which Tarathan had assured him would include Derai equipment. Kalan had found the herald was right, although most of what he examined had been the generic armament the Derai Alliance traded with the River and Southern Realms of Haarth. But because more Derai had been traveling south in recent years, mainly to the River, but a handful into Emer and Lathayra as well, he was able to find a scabbard with the House of Blood’s hydra stamp and a cuirass in the distinctive deep-red steel particular to the warrior House.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 5 — Blood Warrior

As it was in ‘The Two Towers’

One of the most striking sets/locales in the three The Lord Of The Rings movies was Edoras, the Golden Hall of the Rohirrim. I’ve always loved that first, wonderful view, with Eowyn of Rohan standing before the Hall and the pennant blowing away in the wind.

Although the set was removed after filming, the location is a few hours drive from where I live and accessible by road (although it’s unsealed gravel road for a reasonable distance), except for the last half hour or so when one has to get out and walk to get up close and personal with the hill. And very definitely climb to reach the summit!

Getting there

I did exactly that a few weeks ago, taking the road via Mt Somers and the Ashburton Lakes and then onward along the road that ends at Erewhon Station—which is a story in itself, so more on that later.

Always more fun with good company! (Note the gravel road 😉 )

First up, Edoras, which is in fact not officially designated a “hill” as I said above, but is named Mt Sunday. According to the the legend (OK, the interpretation board en route) it’s called Mt Sunday because in earlier days the boundary riders from the surrounding stations (think “ranches” if you’re not from NZ/Aus) used to meet up there on a Sunday.

And there it is!

The climb to the summit is worthwhile, not only to imagine the Golden Hall but for the fabulous views to the Main Divide one way and across to the Rangitata River the other. And that wind—suffice it to say that it was an entirely foregone conclusion that pennant would get blown away.

From the summit: vista 1

As for Erewhon, the story goes like this: it’s the title of a novel written by the English writer, Samuel Butler, published in 1872 after a period of four years living in the NZ high country not far from Edoras and the current Erewhon station—although the station he worked on, which still exists, was and is called Mesopotamia.

From the Edoras (Mt Sunday) summit: vista 2

Erewhon is regarded as a satire on Victorian society, which involves the discovery of a fictional country, Erewhon (which is an anagram of Nowhere, not quite reversed), i.e. it’s a satire in a similar style to Gulliver’s Travels, with speculative fiction overtones.

From the Edoras (Mt Sunday) summit: vista 3

So I think it’s kind of cool that the setting for Edoras is on the road to both Nowhere and Erewhon. 🙂

High lonesome…

And I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos. 🙂

Mt Somers

Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013

Although as noted in the original Garan entry, I do think it’s questionable whether he really qualifies as a “minor character” anymore. He is, after all, in all the books and a point of view character in The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood.

However, for now I shall continue as we started with an updated entry in this series.

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Garan: an honor guard, serving the House of Night

“…the two priests retained their cautious station down the hall. Their faces had remained expressionless throughout, but the young woman was flying two spots of color high in her cheeks. Teron’s belligerent stare shifted back to them. “I still say they shouldn’t be here,” he said loudly.

Garan’s amused expression did not change, but there was a warning note in his voice. “Captain’s orders, young Teron, which means yours too. So pipe down like a good lad, else I’ll have to send you packing.”

~ from © The Heir Of Night: The Wall of Night Book One, Chapter 7 — The Tower of the Rose
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“Just what we need,” said Garan. “A coterie of Stone priests.” He had led his company out of the Barren Hills just on dusk, intending to camp overnight by the Border Mark, only to find another group of travelers already settled in by the standing stone. And not just any travelers, Garan thought with an inward groan. Stone priests were the nearest thing to a warrior class within the three priestly Houses, and as rigid as the House of Blood in their adherence to the divisions that had arisen out of the civil war.

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 28 — Border Crossing
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Entering as bidden, Kalan saw Garan and Nerys salute crisply despite their dirt. They were both worn to leanness and shadowed eyes, but nodded in courtesy to Kalan as they left.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 28 — Field of Play

Fresh from the oven

On 1 October, I resumed my quest for the Holy Grail of orange cakes, i.e. an orange cake so good that it becomes my “go to” recipe thereafter.

In embarking on this quest, my yardstick is the orange cakes that were standard fare in Brisbane (Australia) eateries in the early to mid ’90s, when I used to visit there a lot.

Whatever their provenance, I can tell you it’s not one shared by NZ cafes and purveyors of cake goodness, hence the quest.

In the 1 October post I mentioned that I had seen an interesting looking recipe for Orange and Poppy Seed Cake in a recent edition of NZ House & Garden (September 2018), so I felt honour bound to make it next.

The feature is called “Happy Days” but the recipes therein are not attributed to anyone (which is unusual.) Nonetheless, the Orange and Poppy Seed Cake is very good—even better on the second day, I think, than the first.

It came out with a lovely golden crust, too, that had a very nice, ‘crunchible’ texture when eating.

Check out those poppy seeds…

I should note, too, that the magazine recipe has the cake split in two and both iced and sandwiched together with an orange and cream cheese frosting. While that would probably qualify as both decadent and delicious, I eschewed the frosting in favour of a plain, unsplit cake–which was still delectable.

Ready to eat!

Was it the grail? Although very nice, I don’t think so. It inclined toward a more buttery character rather than the citrus zing I’m looking for.

Would I make it again, though? Yep, sure would.

The Taste Test Team say they would definitely eat it again, too. 😀