"For many years when I first came to the Valley, I was awoken almost every morning by a particular bellbird which started the morning, just before or on dawn, outside my window, with that single lovely bell like note which some bellbirds sound to perfection.
Not to hear it of a morning was to leave me with a sense of there being something not quite right with myself or the world, rather like forgetting to meditate or pray.
When he disappeared, ceased to sing outside my window, it left me with a real sense of loss, of desolation even."

Narena Olliver, Waiotahi Valley, 1999