We had 60 people come to hear Michelle Sime talk about and demonstrate some Maori natural medicines. We ended up sipping different infusions and many people applied poultices made of hot kawakawa leaves - on heads and hands and arms. Michelle told us to soak the leaves in hot water and then apply. Hold it in place with kitchen roll and add the modern twist of cling-wrap to contain it all! We learnt about how to distinguish between manuka and kanuka. It is easy to remember this if you think: 'Kanuka is kind, Manuka is mean' - kanuka has softer leaves than manuka.

Michelle is setting up a clinic for people who want to try using these traditional medicines. Here is the link of her upcoming courses : http://www.cew.ac.nz/health--wellbeing.html