Word: Barmy/ Balmy- extremely foolish; eccentric
Book: The Power of Place By: Winifred Gallagher
New Zealand is a land of rolling hills into rainforest lining the coast that shoots up into snow-capped mountains. Did you get that? Everything is here, within a few hours you could burn out on geographically wonders. Kauri trees in the Far North, clear blue waters on the East Coast, mountains in the South, pre-teen volcanic isles lurking in the Auckland harbor- everything! The foliage is fun. Tree Ferns act as umbrellas, popping out the of hillside in perfect distance from one another, choking out the sunlight for invasive weeds. I feel at home here.
The people in NZ are special as well. It was lovely to see Jonathan and meet his beautiful family. It was lovely to jump off a jetty with the kids from Kohu Kohu. They asked a myriad of questions about celebrities and parties when I told them where I came from. Strange, the most famous person I’ve ever seen (besides Desmond Tutu) is Rhys Darby from Flight of the Conchords! He was who was eating dinner with his family right next to us at a restaurant called Lone Star in Auckland just a few days ago. The best question hands down came from a 10ish year old Kohu Kohu native- “Have you even been lost?” What a remote life these children live in the Far North!
Driving up north by myself in a sad excuse for a car was a fantastic experience. An Englishman taught me how to weave Maori baskets, a French woman laughed at all my jokes for a day, and I spent 2 nights in a place called The Tree House. On top of that I rented a kayak and paddled out to a little island and spent most of my time driving from beach to beach, swimming wherever, whenever. The views were stunning. Russell is one of the last places I remember being on a family vacation before my father passed. It was a happy reunion, a peaceful graze with the past. Arriving back in Auckland during peak hours was not all that bad. After getting fantastically lost in Epsom I pulled over- almost magnetically drawn to sweet local wine shop. The cashier was of great company and help. Not bad looking either. We conversed for an hour or so over my sandwich and his coffee, interupeted briefly by the occasional customer. When traffic died down I continued home printed directions in hand, compliments of Lloyd.
Not all has gone smoothly. RIP iHOME. A causality of high & barmy American stupidity. The iHOME was an absolute pain in the ass to drag around- but it has always been essential in my room. iHOME even went around the world via MV Explorer. It had a good life; it’s in a better place now (sitting in my office). Besides that great material loss, which is not that great or an irreplaceable loss, all is well in Kiwi Land. On the subject of kiwi’s I am 76.3% sure I saw one, scurrying into a bush as nocturnal flightless bird do at 11:00 am- let’s just say I did.
great to hear from you that you are there you are well you are thriving
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