Little by little, one travels far. 

 J.R.R.Tolkien

Springlands School has won an environmental award for its contribution to the conservation of rivers. The students formed an environmental group called ‘Go Mad’ (Make a Difference), and created a Writers' Walk on the Taylor River. I blogged about this earlier in the year. The poems set on stone on the banks of the Taylor River can be found near the Beaver Road Bridge.

   Another initiative of the group was to install blue plastic fish near storm water drains to alert people to the fact that some pollutants would harm fish and native plants. The fish are inscribed with ‘Drains Rain only’.  Isn’t that great? Other schools have since joined in and there are around 300 blue fish in Marlborough. The School Environment Award is presented every second year.

   There is a great write up (and a lovely photo), in today’s Marlborough Express about Clara van Wel winning NZs Got Talent. Currently in Auckland giving interviews, appearing on television and so on, she will be back in Marlborough soon to catch up with her friends. Apparently three of her original songs will be available on iTunes very soon and then in the shops later and Sony is producing a CD in February next year. By the way the editor wants to know what we think of today’s paper.  I love Tuesday’s paper because it covers the arts – in a paper that one could say is a big follower of sport.  On Tuesday there is an arts' page but I might prefer the arts to be widely reported every day.  Just look at the range of work by artists and artisans on display in the mall in Picton from now until the end of February.

    I have just received email images (digital photos), of my book on display at the Frankfurt Book Fair. What a thrill to see it on the stand in the company of other titles along with the NZ Society of Authors banner: Principal advocate for the professional interest of writers.  www.authors.org.nz
   
   Today I have been reading about Cook’s Second Voyage and about all the different versions of the manuscript as outlined by Beaglehole.  I had momentary doubts then about my aim which is to present to the modern reader Cook’s actual words and thoughts while he was in Queen Charlotte Sound. I guess I will have to include some kind of an introduction.  Cook confessed to not being a writer, to having spent all his life at sea and to have progressed from 'seafarer to Commander'.  He must have spent such a lot of time writing. My transcribed notes for his Second Voyage that only deal with the time he spent at Ship Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound amount to 13,000 words so far. Cook would sometimes have been cold, sometimes wet and suffering from rheumatism but his powers of observation of geography, people and native fauna and flora and the meticulous record of longitude and latitude, tides, wind and weather are remarkable.
   
   The three writing groups I belong to make me aware how each word has to be carefully chosen then scrutinised for its value. What is the essential thing you are trying to say? I must say that when blogging I don’t seem to have the luxury of putting a piece of writing to one side to edit at a later date because it’s the immediacy of writing about what’s happening right now that appeals to me about blogging and tweeting.