336/366 - Mapua from Rabbit Island, on Sonny Jim's 12th birthday

334/366 - Harwoods' Hole, Golden Bay

Sonny Jim on the way to Harwoods' Hole

Sonny Jim overlooking Harwwods' Hole, 176 m drop. . .

A load of inebriated Irish tourists on the edge of a 176 metre shaft - not their smartest move?!

322/366 - SEGWAY . . . Sonny Jim's birthday treat.

Segways from www.movenelson.co.nz

308/366 - One dog and his boy

304/366 - "All I want for Christmas" (according to Sonny Jim!)

301/366 - Day old chick

Sonny Jim's favourite thing about the Nelson A&P Show each year is cuddling the day old chicks!

276/366 - "Wildfire" perform @ Primary School Rock Quest

275/366 - Fly with Irn Bru!

Sonny Jim saved up Irn Bru drink cans over a period of months so that the "Tin Can Man" at Nelson market could make him this Irn Bru plane. The propellor spins freely in the breeze.

274/366 - Record player. . . almost antique?!

Today Sonny Jim was given a record player by his Nagymama. To him it is like an antique and endlessly fascinating!

252/366 - Just another dog walk in paradise

241/366 - Blur

Sonny Jim throws the ball for the dogs at Ruby Bay

239/366 - Snowy mountains, from Nelson Paintball battlefield

Paintball Challenge with Tamaha Sea Scouts vs Richmond Scouts

237/366 - First "Dad hug" in 13 months

Emotional reunion between Sonny Jim and his dad at Nelson Airport this evening

And more hugs at home later. . . 

235/366 - Back meets bark. Bark wins.

Ouch, poor Sonny Jim! Hope the Betadine I applied keeps it clean. . .

230/366 - Who said dogs can't smile?!!

Frodo smiles whilst taking care of post-surgical Sonny Jim :)

229/366 - Post-surgical dinner for two

225/366 - Gouda and Quark cheese-making course, day 2

Cheese press with fresh Gouda inside, mature Gouda, whey, bowl of unstrained quark and straining bowl.

Plus an extra photo that Sonny Jim took today - a self-portrait showing his creative photography. . . and just how far he can protrude his lips!!

223/366 - "I love my dog. . . as much as I love you!"

221/366 - Winner of the Motueka Primary Schools Year 7/8 Speech Competition

Sonny Jim won the Speech Competition despite being one of the youngest competitors in his age group and never having taken part in a speech competition until winning the school comp this year! Go him!!

There were six set topics to choose from, and SJ worked his speech around the title "Pushing the Boundaries." Link to video of speech here.

Text of his speech below:

Pushing the Boundaries

Pushing the boundaries you say... What do you mean by that? Do you mean taking a world record and beating it, or pushing against a wall? I am not doing a speech on how to push walls or even push physical boundaries. No, I will be focusing on boundaries of attitude and how with a few brave people pushing the boundaries, attitudes can be changed and social justices achieved.

“Women getting the vote? Pshaw! Yeah right!” In 1892, that was the attitude of most of the public, even some women. . . In 1893, however, New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the basic human right of voting in a Parliamentary Election. To all the women in the room . . . how would you feel if you werenʼt allowed to vote in the next General Election simply because you were born female? By pushing social and political boundaries, suffragist Kate Shepherd and her supporters achieved this social justice for the women of New Zealand. Much of the world was soon to follow.

And to think that in New Zealand in1985, you could be put in jail, just for being gay. That seems ridiculous nowadays . . . well to most people, anyway! Thanks to MP Fran Wilde and her supporters, the Homosexual Law Reform Act was passed in 1986 and around 10% of New Zealandʼs population no longer had to live in fear of imprisonment.

Only the following year, in August 1987, did Te Reo Maori finally become an official language of Aotearoa-New Zealand. How can it possibly have taken so long to officially recognise this beautiful language? For so many years it was

the only language spoken in Aotearoa, and yet it nearly died! Isnʼt it a human right to be able to speak your own language in your own country?

Then in 1994 Apartheid (the hateful segregation against black people) ended in South Africa and the world rejoiced! Nelson Mandela pushed this social justice boundary every day of the 27 years he spent in prison. After all his struggles he became President of South Africa and is still an inspiration to millions.
All these things were radical in their time, truly seen as pushing the boundaries of life as we knew it. When we reflect on them now they seem regular and commonplace - but many of our basic human rights didnʼt just happen. . . they were bravely fought for.

There is still a lot of discrimination that exists in our world, and even in our own country.
What issue do YOU feel is worth pushing the boundaries for?
Will YOU be our next civil rights champion?
If you ARE, I truly hope you are successful because pushing the boundaries makes our world a better place.

218/366 - Nelson houses on a rainy day - photo by Sonny Jim