Paradise: beyond duality

Home . . . for now!
http://www.waiateara.co.nz/

From the Land of . . . EVERYTHING!

WoooHoooo!!!!!
Finally a rainy day to update all my friends and lovers.
I am currently in the town of Takaka of the Golden Bay region. Standing before this outlying outpost of organics, art, music, beaches, permaculture, and alternative energy is the famed 'Takaka Hill': 810 meters tall and 11 kilometers from bottom to top - the right of passage into this wondrous place.
After three weeks on the saddle, I am setting the cycle aside, and resting my not so weary bones in this paradise of national parks, artists, and farmers.
Tomorrow I start wwoofing for a beautiful family in a strawbale house atop a 600m mountain overlooking Golden Bay! We will be constructing a yurt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurt) and running a yurt workshop. I'm really looking forward to living simply, learning about alternative enegies & self-sustainable lifestyles, and having some good old-fashioned home cooking! Plus, it'll be tough to break my budget when food and accomdation are free, and I'm living off the grid!

My path so far has been Christchurch to Waipara to Golden Bay to Kaikora to Ward to Blenheim to Picton to Pelorus River to Nelson to Kina to Kaiteriteri to Marahau to Riwaka to Takaka. I took three days off in Picton to hike the Queen Charlotte trek and three days in Marahau to kayak the coast of Abel Tasman Natioanl Park.
The Queen Charlotte trek was stunning, with views reminiscent of the Chilean fjords - lush mountains steeping out of dark ocean water, mysteriously topped with smoky, misty clouds. The tramp was an easy 71 k, flat most of the way with a path well-maintained enough for mountain bikers. A water taxi gave me passage to the beginning of the trek and hauled all my gear to my subsequent camping sites. As I result, I walked lightly with only a daypack, and had quite a nice stroll through the Queen Charlotte Suunds!

My kayak trip along the coast of Abel Tasman National Park: An amazingly peaceful and relaxing three days, lazily paddling from beach to beach, lagoon to lagoon, and seal colony to seal colony, through the clearest and brightest blue water I've ever seen.

Along the way I've met a kiwi who cycled 10,000 k through Northern and eastern Europe with his own personally constructed touring cycle and a Slovakian who cycled 32,000 k over two years from his homeland to NZ on US $5000! Suddenly, my crickety, ten yr old, 200 dollar Avanti touring cycle on its 500k journey appears far less impressive, but far more quirky.

But cycling has been an excellent meanns of travelling the country. NZ is small and varied enough that a single day of cycling yields brand new scenery, everyday! From rolling sheep hills of Canturbury, to the grand Waipara valley, to the beautiful vineyards of the Marlborough region, to the smoky and magnificent fjord-like Queen Charlotte sounds, to the pure waters and beaches of the Nelson and Golden Bay regions.

I do believe that I will stick with cycling as means of travel, when possible. I do not miss lugging my heavy pack around town and being dependent on public transport, buses, and taxis. Cycling yeilds tons more freedom, and in NZ, makes freedom camping a breeze. Furthermore, its an especially inexpexpensive means of travel. Your transport is always free, and when you're on the bike all day, trying to get to that next town, you don't really have an opportunity to spend money - you just ride! ALso, just riding day has put me in the best shape of my life. And lastly, locals are far more helpful to tourists on a cycle than tourists in a campervan (and there are a million of those!). All I have to do is stop and look confused for 10 seconds, and someone stops beside me and asks how they can help. And kiwis haven't simply been nice and helpful, but genuinely kind and concerned. In Kaikoura, a lady accidentally walked away with my wallet while I was at an internet cafe. I assumed I had been robbed and asked another lady if she had seen anything. She said that she had not, but imediately gave me $40 to 'get me started', and would not take no for an answer. 30 minutes later, the later who had mistakenly nabbed my wallet returned my wallet to me, money included, and would not even allow me to buy her in beer in graditude. Again and again, I've been taken aback by the random acts of kindness I've received!

I'm in Love! Gotta go, I'm getting kicked!

My electronic Love sent round the world!