A Great Walk

The adventures have picked up.

After a heartfelt goodbye (Wendy and Bridgette were awesome flatmates, that became good friends), we headed off toward the East Cape. If I were a giant, and New Zealand was my home, the East Cape is the room I would go to when I wanted to be alone. It was delightfully unpopulated, with plenty of coastline. The beaches were eerily loaded with driftwood, and the few, isolated houses were in various states of disrepair. The East Cape could be a lonely place. We just kept on driving, viewing most of it from the car. It was a pleasant, quiet start to the post-work stage of our journey.

We met up with our now former flatmate Wendy at Lake Waikeramoana. This was to be our first “Great Walk”. There are about a dozen of them in New Zealand, and they’re supposed to be… great. I wasn’t so sure. It could be cold. It could be wet. It could be cold and wet! I could get blisters. I might just get really, really tired. What if it’s just really boring. Day 1, alone, was supposed to be 5 hours; uphill. Gulp. I sucked it up. 45 kilometers, 4 days. It was a religious experience. A revelation. By the time we made it back to our cars, I felt like the Buddha. 4 days of rigorous hiking, with a single purpose to my existence, left me with a profound sense of calm. Everything made sense. Enlightenment, baby. Zen and the Art of Tramping. New Zealand style.

Today, we’ve made our way to Palmerston North. I sit in a “stunning” library, in a city that is home to NZ’s largest university. Tonight we’ll sleep in a small, free campground, in a small town not far from here called Fielding. We’ll slowly make our way west to Mt. Eggmont, and then to the Whanganui River. From there, we’ll rent a canoe and float lazily downstream for 4 days. I’m not complaining.

On the Road Again

Life is good here. We love our routine at 285 Range Rd, love our flatmates, love the new house cat Monkey, but aren’t exactly crazy about the increasingly boring work at MPAC. On the plus side though, with regard to MPAC, it has gotten me into great shape. I’m a machine! I haven’t been in this good of shape since high school. I’m ready to accompany Betsy on all those beautiful, gorgeous, breathtaking hikes she’s sure to drag me on. Life is tough.

Having saved enough money, and having gotten Hank into playing shape, we’ll be hitting the road on August 16^th! We’re very excited. On top of that huge reason to feel good about life, we have another visitor coming! This mystery guest will be arriving in late October, and we’re thrilled. Any guesses?

I’m reading about a zillion books right now. I just finished “Obama; From Promise to Power”, which I read in a four day mad dash. I discovered it at the library on accident, and decided to squeeze it in before we hit the road. As some of you may know, I’m a certified Obama worshipper, and I needed a fix. I’m also reading a sports biography. “Heart, Soul, Fire; the Journey of Paul Briggs” is about a boxer from Austrailia/New Zealand. It’s a surprisingly raw and intense read, given the genre. Another on my bedside table is “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.” It’s about, not surprisingly, the ancient tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. I’m a fan. I’m also slowly, methodically working my way though “Winning Chess Combinations” by Yasser Seirawan. I dig chess. And finally, I’m frequently hunched over an anxiety workbook purchased for me by my good friend and recent visitor Lee Granas. She’s awesome. It turns out I’m quite anxious much of the time, and there are things that can be done about it. I’m very hopeful. But anxious.