Dreamyoga.co.uk Blog

Thought that would catch your eye! I don’t mean three men in the biblical sense for breakfast, but had a really nice few hours with John (who films volcanos) Don (who is a historian) and Eric (hilariously funny acupuncurist)  all very interesting chaps and great company,  and they washed up. Had a small peice of wheat during breakfast and had to sleep off the effects till late afternoon, or perhaps the Bucks Fizz did it?

I’ve had a really lonely couple of weeks, all my friends here got incredibley busy and I didn’t see a soul for ages,  missing all you lot at home and a really close relative comes to the North Island on holiday, half an hour by plane from where I am and is “too busy” visit, I can’t say how this has dissappointed me.  The accumulation of this and the grey, cloudy hot weather took me into a real tail spin.  

But Christmas day was such fun. In the evening went to a party up in the bush and dared myself to walk home without putting my torch on. There are no street lights here and with the cloudy sky it was totally pitch black - what fun! Took about an hour of feeling my way along looking for the edges of the road with my feet.  

Tried to call children, freinds and relatives when I got back but the phone lines were down.

The weather really picked up on Boxing day and its been clear skies and intense heat since. Lots of people diving. Talking to a woman who was diving for crayfish. She saw one poking out of a hole pulled it out and realised it was attached to a HUGE Moray Eel, she dropped it quickly and her partner who only saw crayfish and no eel rescued it for her, the eel then dropped the crayfish which they brought home, it lay in the freezer for a few hours before it was eaten for dinner. I heard there were loads of Stingray about. Fuuny that no one minded Stingrays before that Aussie guy got killed, now we’re all freaked out about them.

Went for a swim yesterday - the water was so beautiful, I’m not very brave so didn’t stay in long, also couldnt stay on the beach too long because of the heat, though I do have a huge floppy hat now that covers most of me and the tan is building up nicely……I’m not trying to make you jealous, just getting you interested in coming to see for yourselves.

It is strange being a Reflexologist here and not a Yoga Teacher. When I tell people that I also teach Yoga they give me a strange look. A few of us Alternative types have decided to set up a day of healing- one of them said shall we get the local Yoga teacher in for it, I just can’t convince them that its what I do.

Must go - exchanging massage with brilliant german woman for reflexology -its my turn today!

Have a glorious 2008 - I’m going to!

The population of the Island is in fairly rapid decline, 15 years ago there was 2000 people, when I was here in february there was 800 and at present there are only 600 permanent residents. Recently the ferry left taking a family with children and an older couple, there were tears in church that morning and a big send-off on the wharf. Young families can’t survive here unless they are well heeled, when a child gets to senior school age they have to pay for boarding schools in Aukland.

But we are about to be invaded …….. during the christmas period we will get over 10,000 visitors who will come for the January holiday- its Summer holiday time here. Already the roads are much busier caravans, bikes, tents and the two harbours are filling up with boats, I’m told the boating community of New Zealand will all arrive shortly! As long as they don’t swim much! there are lots of Jelly fish and Stingray out there at present, a little child got stung yesterday by a Jellyfish- poor little sausage.

So the shops are filling to bursting with goods. The carrier gave me a lift yesterday she said that people are used to leaving stuff on the wharf for several days after the boat comes in, but this years alcohol is getting stolen from the shipment and everyone is upset about it. Can you imagine leaving everyone’s Christmas booze, brandy and champagne etc,  on a train station open to the public and it being left there for several days untouched in the U.K!

The phones and the internet was off for a couple of days at the start of the week. The sky has been overcast and the solar power system that feeds the radio waves bringing communications in packed up completely, as soon as it all came on again everyone was arguing over who had the most urgent phone call or email.

The local mechanic died last week, very popular gay man. There was a huge funeral and I heard that ”Everyone on the Island was at the community center, the Shelias had made a huge pile of food and the guys were drinking beer”

It was so hot today that I lay on my bed this afternoon completley flattened by the heat.

Nobody can miss an episode of Coronation Street here, I thought it was weird that people in England liked this - what on earth can people on the other side of the planet see in it?

We’ve had a pretty big earthquake across on the North Island, nearly 8 on the richter scale, which is really stronge - 22 quakes in all and millions of dollars worth of damage!

The social set up of receiving guests is very different here as to how we do it in England. Everyone sleeps together, I think its a Moari thing that main stream New Zealanders have taken on.  When the Moaris meet in the Mari (meeting house) they all sleep together, hundreds of people all in the same room, farting and snoring together, sounds like great fun to me. When I was here last time someone asked if I wanted to stay over, when I realise it would entail sleeping with her I decided not to stay, as I wasnt sure what was going on. I’d be fine now (I think) .

The Jacaranda tree is flowering, I’d never seen it before. The most beautiful light blue flower verging on violet.  There is also news of the New Zealand  Storm Petrel which was supposed to be extinct, there has now been some definite sightings.

All is very well here. Love to you all at Christmas. I will be entertaining three bachelors for Christmas breakfast and eating Christmas dinner at friend Paulines. Doesnt seem like Christmas at all in this heat but I’ll do my best to have fun. XXX

Max and Linda have been away for 5 days so its me and the chooks, goat and sheep. The mother Ewe and I are the best of pals now, we walk through the long field together to  collect the eggs she leans her shoulder against my leg and looks up at me all the time as if she really loves me, possibly to do with the fact that she gets a treat at the end of the egg run, but who am I to spurn loving looks- just hope they don’t have her for lunch while I’m here.

It hasn’t stopped raining since they left, totally torrential and non-stop. Linda moved all the chook houses before she left the result being that the chooks can’t find the doors to get in. Last night in the pouring driving rain the silky-hen cockerell decided to sleep in a tree with a couple of the harem, they were all soaked and too high for me to reach, so I shook the tree and got half-drowned,  he screamed the place down, flew up in the air, hit the barn and slid down the wall dead! at least I thought he was until I picked him up and he became all beak and claws, after a few laps of the lawn I managed to catch him by the tail and chuck him into the coop and he lay there feigning death again, but all was fine in the morning, glad chooks dont have long term memories. 

Yesterday during the only 3 hour break from the rain went for a walk with some freinds to a place called the Needle, it turns out the reason they call it the Needle is because its very high up in the bush and with a -thrilling -ascent. I found the ascent first and thought I was in the wrong place because all I saw was a very long straight up piece of rock with a couple of holds on it and bush either side several hundred feet below.  I told the others we were going the wrong way and walked around for another half an hour until we came back to the same place, John said “this is it”. Susan refused to go up and after thinking about it I did do it but only by looking at what was directly under my feet and hands and not looking down at all, it was terrifying, But the view was wonderful, being able to see both beaches at either side of the island by just turning your head - carefully

Going to a party tonight and staying at friend Pauline’s who has a beautiful deck high up over the sea and 2moro night staying at her sister Joss’s out in the bush, both really lovely women. Viv, my freind I stayed with here before who now lives off island,  turns up on Tuesday for a week so it will be great to have some time with her and have a larf.

last week was the best ever for reflexology treatments - 11 in one week, if this carries on I’ll be flying my own airplane home.

Had thought about going to Venuatu after I leave here - but the lonley planet really very negative about it particulalry for single women, it seems if you turn up by yourself it must be to find a man and you can have one immediatley but it may not be one of your choosing.

 So decided to go to Aitutaki instead, its one of the Cook Islands - quite a long way from here- you have to fly to a remote island called Rarotonga and then a 45 minute plane journey from there, the next little island called One-foot island has one of the most remote post offices in the world! Aitutaki is surrounded one side by a lagoon made up of a coral reef, which means most of the nasties such as sharks etc dont get in and its not affected by the tide and bigger sea, so you just float about looking at the pretty stuff - hopefully. All down to whether I can get the cash together of course.

Missing you all in Lancaster , I have to stay in a lot because of the rain just now, so my mind gets filled up with all of you, as they say 

 WISH YOU WERE HERE

X

I’ve been very much missing all the spiritual input I get in Lancaster with the Yoga teaching and my Subud meetings and of course the wonderful Quakers every Sunday. Its been a bit of a spiritual desert for me here so this morning I went to the sweetest little country church, the view behind the altar was incredible and we had a lovely service led by a Minister from Aukland with lots of input from the congregation, a very romantic bearded wild-looking Irish man ( the kind Hollywood would take ages to get into costume) stood up and cried while everyone held up their hands and blessed him.

After the service someone asked me if I’d like to help in the meditation group, I said that would be great but I did teach a Hindu meditation technique. A woman came over and  gave me such a tirade about the only true church was the Christian one and the only entity we should be worshipping was Jesus, she actually said that Christianity was the only right way to go. I retaliated with ” then most people on the planet are wrong in their spiritual practice?” the response being that she was the only one that was right and we all had to watch for the way the devil arrives amongst us. The Minister was standing next to us and said she had to agree that she thought I was in the right.  I’ve written them a letter to say I wouldn’t be returning to their church and mentioned the words bigotry and fearfullness and the fact that the reason I had been reticent about coming to a small Christian community church was that I may receive the exact behaviour I did.

Apart from that Summer is hotting up, we had the Santa parade yesterday with Santa Claus, clowns, faires and children singing carols all in the boiling heat - bizaare! There were huge cream cakes stalls, a bar, and masses of second-hand goods for sale. I bought myself a beautiful pale blue ensemble for $3 (thats 1 pound), got 2 new reflexology clients, had 2 small bottles of champagne and 2 very large cream cakes., the whole day cost me $18 (6quid) . Will spare you the details of what my digestive system thought of all that later …phew!

The sky here at night is beyond description - I’ve never seen so many stars anywhere else in the world, just one lot of stars behind another and then more behind that until it makes your eyes ache seeing how far back the stars go. In the morning the Kakas (an extremely rare form of parrot type bird about the size of a chicken)  turn up like a pack of hoodlums, screaming and shouting and carrying on. The move slowly along the branches of the Pohutakawa  trees (just coming into flower) and with their bills low down and creep up on each other making the others squawk, sometimes hanging upsidedown to amuse the group who all appear to laugh.

Lots of Tui now with their double voice boxes making wonderful noises, not only in song but in flight. The aquamarine and yellow kingfishers are so common that I hardly notice them anymore. The New Zealand pigeons are a technicolour version of ours and about three times the size. some are so fat they can barely take off!

I wish I could draw you an outline of the sky where I live. About a quarter of it is the flat bit that goes down to the sea 5 minutes walk away. The rest of the land seems to go straight up and forms a huge curve of a bumpy, rocky, tree-y high bush. Its awesome (as they say here) In fact its either “awesome” or “sweet as” here.

The whole of the front of my little house is surrounded by a roofed and trellised porch. Through the trellis pushes a heavenly scented very lush jasmine, some Monstera (that we grow inside with huge waxy leaves with holes in them )and a Pandora Vine also called a Beauty Bower with fabulous pink flowers. Outside of this big fat roses, succulents and Aloe Vera. Inside the porch I have set up a little herb garden with my favourites, thyme , sage , nasturiums, lemon balm, parsley and garlic.

Since I’ve been here I’ve been reading loads and in my books and on the radio there has been a lot of discussions of Dicken’s Great Expectations. I think I had too many great expectations of my love life when I arrived, but still too difficult to talk of that now - but I will talk soon (ish) 

Watch out for my New Year card on its way - its a hoot !!!

trying a little experiment my blog directions say if I put [contact-form] in like this people can respond to my blog - not sure I understand, its probably wrong

but we’ll see