The political movements waste our time and tax payers money* bolstering their egos with their campaigns and lies and reversing each others policies, each time we change from one tie-bestrangled, suited and I’ve got to say unattractive person to another, it costs most of us MORE, how does that work out? How interested are we all? Yet we pay to promote this ridiculous scheme.
So the plan is to run away for a minimum period of 6 months, my return ticket says 6th of May. I’m enclosing on the classes page, information about classes at the Friends Meeting House Lancaster from September to May ‘08 and classes when I come back after May and what will be happening on Great Barrier Island New Zealand with my teaching and Reflexology.
*Ahimsa - no killing or violence
* tax payers money -not mine as I’ve never earned enough to pay tax
I had never been to New Zealand before I arrived in Auckland in February ’07. I’d had a slight accident in Thailand earlier in my trip and everything became soaked in sea water when I was practically thrown into the water by the crew of the the long-tailed boat taking me to Ko-phan-yang. The result was that my Palm Pilot (electronic diary) was completely destroyed and all of my carefully collected contacts lost.
I needed a few days to recover from my trip, but after this found Auckland to be not my kind of place, the centre is modern and ugly and the search for restaurants became quite harrowing. All I could bring to mind from my contact list was a woman named Viv Keenan, who made golden fish traps, www. And that she lived on a Great Barrier Island. I thought it may be worthwhile to go and visit for a few days while I sorted out my options and thought of where else I would like to go in New Zealand. There were two ways of getting there, either 5 hours on the ferry or via small plane from Auckland that only takes 30 minutes.
Great Barrier Island is one of the Hauriki Gulf Islands from which you can see the Corramandel Peninsula. After a stunningly beautiful 5 hour ferry journey, looking out for dolphins, who cleverly only came to the side of the boat while I was in the bathroom, we arrived at Tryphena Harbour, it was breathtaking, talk about a tropical paradise!
The bird-watching was wonderful. There were extremely rare Kaka, Barrier is one of the only places in the world where they are found, and are plentiful there, they turn up in crowds like hooligans and destroy fruit and tree barks and do whatever they like because they are a protected species, it is very funny to watch their clown-like antics. Mt favourites were the Tui, they have a double voice box and can sing two songs at the same time, one hears this sound all over the island and it is astonishingly beautiful. The Pokeeko march like little red and navy soldiers as if the place belongs to them, but I’m sure you’re bored to death already with the bird life, there are many others things to do on Barrier.
I wam from Goose Flats Beach every day, one day when Viv and I were in the water we were surrounded by flying fish, an amazing sight, silver lights jumping all around us in the bright sunshine. I was told when the dolphins came into the harbour they would start jumping and performing, as the crowds gradually arrived to see them they would start clapping and egging them on, the more noise the dolphins received the more riotous their performances, I didn’t see one dolphin all the time I was there, they were always hiding around the corner and I would hear lots of reports of how I had just missed them. I went swimming with the dolphins at Kiakoura but that’s another story.
There is a lot of surfing over on Medlands Beach, this is a stunning curved bay, boating and beautiful yachts at Port Fitzroy, sea kayaking along the coastline, phosphorescence dancing on your paddles on the night trips, horse treks and some of the best fishing and diving in the world. The gear and transport for all these sports and pastimes can be hired out, very cheaply by English standards, from many different companies on the island.
Talking of money, while I was in NZ there was $3 dollars to the £, very advantageous to us, therefore eating out and alcohol were very cheap. Accomodation was clean and inexpensive and in some cases really beautiful. My favourite was Tippi and Bobs, a lovely helpful couple called Marge and Pete run this and are welcoming and friendly, it is somewhere I would definitely have liked to stay if I hadn’t stayed with Viv. Look at www.waterfrontlodge.co.nz the views are stunning, if you notice their cottage is $150 a night and sleeps 6, that’s £50! There are plenty of hostels such as the Stray Possum with bunks for $12 a night or some chalets, or you can rough it in the camping huts $10 that has 24 bunks, cold water, pit toilets and a wood burning stove.
I ate out quite a lot at Claris Texas Café during the day and the Thai restaurant at night, there were many other options such as the Stray Possum, which was fairly good, but it could be difficult to be a vegetarian.
There were great Thursday nights out at the Currach Irish Pub, with loacal bands and singers and lots of dancing, though I did find it difficult to eat there when the veggie cook wasn’t working, but $6 for a small bottle of excellent champagne was right up my street!
My friend Pauline and Jos Stonewall run the Stonewall stores in Tryphena, the cheapest, best and biggest variety of food on the island. They were SO helpful and supportive to me during my 2 month stay on Barrier. They are blessed with very quick wits and hilariously funny. I found them friendly and welcoming to new arrivals. They talk of opening a café and a place of healing.
So come and visit – it is truly a tropical paradise!
