Dear Lucy,
Thank you for a thought provoking essay, especially as I travel through NZ, attempting to grasp (imbibe?) the story of this land and its peoples. A friend of mine, and fellow NZ author and philosopher has written a compelling if complex book on our interconnected, interacting, constantly communicating universe and how inadequately we currently understand it. (Theo Holtzhausen). Spheres of Perception. You might enjoy it.