We were no sooner back from our restful trip to Tonga when the day came that the much anticipated and long-planned family trip finally arrived.   My extended family – sister Joy, brother-in-law David, one year old niece Sienna, and my parents Carmella and Hugo, made the long journey from San Francisco and Florida and arrived bright-eyed and bushy tailed on a Saturday morning.

We’d been planning this trip for the better part of a year and I wanted to really show them a good time.    This would probably be the only time my parents would make it to New Zealand and it would probably be a number of years before my sister & family would journey back again.

I rented a large ‘people mover’ so that everyone could fit comfortably as we toured around and managed to purchase or borrow several key pieces of gear that a one-year old needs.

It was a great trip!    We spent several days at our new place in Christchurch, reconfiguring the house so that everyone had a room.  Bruce & I moved out into the sleepout while the rest of the family took over the house.   On their first night, Christchurch welcomed them with another aftershock which jolted most of us from a peaceful slumber.

We spent five days at our place in Wainui and the weather gods blessed us with some stunning sunshine and warmth.   I took my sister and mom to a Italian cooking demonstration class at The Gables where we were treated to Lynn and Chris’ culinary delights, learning how to make stuffed peppers and onions, fresh pasta, and amazing desserts and finishing with a formal sit-down lunch in their beautiful B&B.

We did quite a bit in our few days as we were generally on the go in short spurts always mindful of baby Sienna’s napping and eating schedule!   We managed to get over to Akaroa for an afternoon of meandering and shopping,  down to the beach for a quick dipping of the toes and a play in the sand,  got in a game of tennis, and we did manage to sit around and enjoy Wainui and our lovely views from the front porch.

Oh, and everyone had a chance to do something in the garden!

We did a lot of eating and cooking and my mom got a kick out of Bruce’s bread-making technique and my sister and I had a go at making crackers from freshly made juice pulp.

Sienna got along fantstically well with her first cousin Nina!   And gramps and nana got a lot of quality time in with both of them!

Then it was off to Kaikoura for a couple of days.   Joy & David managed a dolphin swim while Auntie Kathy got to babysit for Sienna.   We did a couple of walks, saw the Seal Colony (represented by one lone seal), did a bit of shopping, and a whole lot of eating.

Next it was over to Hanmer Springs for a night and a soak in the tubs with a few stops along the way for a proper Kiwi roadside picnic!

Then back to Christchurch for their last few days which happened to be over American Thanksgiving.   We passed on the turkey and instead had mom’s famous home-made manicotti and meatballs along with several other yummy dishes.   It was another gorgeous day and I had a few friends over to meet them.

Sadly, the trip ended too soon and it was time for them to head off.   It was a whirlwind trip indeed.  I am grateful that they were able to come all together and appreciated the time we were able to spend together as a family!

I remembered that our friend Purple was minding a friends’ accommodation units in Golden Bay for the winter.  A quick email confirmed he was still there and that there was plenty of room for us.  Super.  Road trip here we come!

We left on a gorgeous sunny day and had a beautiful and easy seven hour drive through the mountains and Lewis Pass and then up and over Takaka Hill to arrive in the semi-tropical Golden Bay region.   The main town, consisting of approximately 4500 people, is Takaka.   We stayed just on the outskirts in a the popular summer resort area of Pohara at The Sandcastle  – a delightful 10 acre property with six self-contained little cottages, a spa and sauna, and complete with dog, chickens, and sheep.

We had four full days of relaxing, hiking, sightseeing, and just hanging out with our friends.     The weather was sunny and while not totally the tropical island holiday I was much in need of, it was much warmer than Christchurch (indicated by the fact that I did not have to wear my long johns every day!).

One day we drove out to Wainui Bay and did a nice long hike up to Gibbs Hill from which we had stellar views of the entire bay and Farewell Spit to one side and Abel Tasman Park and the Nelson region to the other.  We visited The Grove, an ancient Land of the Lost-like area with huge limestone boulders topped with Nikau palms and Rata trees which send their long tendril roots over the boulders and down to the ground.    We went to Te Waikoropupu Springs or PuPu Springs which are the largest fresh-water springs in NZ and apparently the clearest in the world.  About 14,000 litres of water a second is thrown up from a number of underground vents dotted around the springs.   And we paid a quick stop to The Naked Possum, to have a cuppa at the cafe and a quick browse in the Possum Shop — the couple who own and run The Naked Possum are dedicated to eradicating those nasty little possums who wreak havoc on the native bush.

And otherwise, we just hung around Pohara at The Sandcastle and at the beach.  I got a good chance to be around the animals and fed the chooks and petted a sickly yet friendly ewe.   Sally the dog was my constant companion and followed me around the property as I snooped around and picked grapefruit and oranges off the heavily laden trees.

This was our second trip to Golden Bay and I do love it quite a bit.  It reminds me of Kauai’s north shore with its large sweeping bay surrounded by mountains in the distance, lots of Nikau Palms, warm weather, and oodles of avocado, citrus, and kiwifruit trees.   People are very laid back and talk about being on Bay time – slow and relaxed.   It’s a community of alternatives – a tremendous amount of artists, musicians, and creative folks live there just like in Hanalei, Kauai.

And so it was time to make the drive back home.   Rest assured, it will not be another three years before I am there again!

Epic.  Transitional.  Watershed.  That is how I would describe Kiwiburn 2009.   Whoa.    It was big, again, and it was magical, again.

Bruce and I took on a lot of projects this year.  In addition to The Green Fairy, which we’ve got down to a tee, and the Kostume Korner, which I did last year, Bruce brought his new improved Merkaba art structure and he also decided to spearhead Shambala, aka Healer Camp, to expand upon his spiritual focus and bring some yin to Kiwiburn’s often yang-focused atmosphere.    I put up my hand to run the Gate & Greeters and had been working with my co-conspirator Kora over the last few months to design the Mutation Station.   There’s been plenty to think about.

We were on schedule, having partially packed the van in Wainui and then cruising into town (Christchurch) to gather up the rest of the gear.    We had so much stuff and the van was chokka full with little room to spare.   We started off on our 2-day journey on a Saturday afternoon, pleased with ourselves and excited to get to be on our way.  About an hour into the trip the van started over heating which is something it’s never done before.  A stop to the nearest petrol station revealed that there was no water in the radiator and that it appeared the cylinder head gasket had ruptured.  Not a good sign.   The mechanic shook his head and cautioned us from going further, “I wouldn’t take that thing to the north island.”  “Hmmm” is all we could say.   There was no question in either of our minds that we’d have to go back to Christchurch and figure out a new plan.    Options:  Rent a van,  rent a trailer and pull it with our 4×4,  buy a van, or borrow a van.   All shops were closed for the evening but a quick internet search revealed that a van rental for 10 days would run almost $1000 and we wouldn’t be able to get one till mid-morning.    We weren’t keen on the trailer/4×4 concept.  We seriously considered going to the Sunday morning car faire and buying a van and as we were pondering all these options, our temporary roommates Sola & Inayat popped in and as we explained our situation, Sola, without missing a beat, said “Wanna take our van?” to which we replied, “YES!”     We unloaded and loaded the vans in just under two hours, had dinner and went off to bed.

At 5 am we were up and on our way making the 340 km trip to Picton in 4 ½ hours with an hour to spare before the three hour ferry ride to Wellington.   At 4:30 pm we were ready to embark on the 370 km ride to Mangakino, generally a six hour journey.   About an hour outside of Wellington we came to a standstill on the highway (which in New Zealand often means 2 lane roads).   Word came from up front that a head-on occurred just a few km ahead and the road would be closed for at least two hours.  With no options for alternate routes, we just turned off the engine and sat in the queue, trying to entertain ourselves or catch a few zzz’s.  Finally at 8:00 pm we were on our way again and we plowed through the night arriving on site by 2 am.   Only a 21-hour trip.  Epic.

After good nights’ sleep, we woke to a beautiful day on the paddock.  It felt good to be there and the Burning Man mantrum ‘Welcome Home’ finally felt appropriate to me.  There is a feeling of home there on the Whakamaru Domain.  The place has Mana, a specialness about it, with a majestic tree marking the centre of the main paddock, the rolling hills,  the shady knoll,  and the lake just down the path.   In just a few days our little temporary community would be in full swing, with a few hundred burners gathered for fun, friendship, and ritual.

About 15 people were already on site and after a leisurely morning of saying hellos and chatting, we all went to work.  Time to build the village (I refrain from using the word city, since we’re not quite that big yet).   Kiwi, Andy, Jason, Bacon, Sam, Carl, DJ Dave, and a few other folks made up the MPW crew (Ministry of Public Works) which shared some crossover with the Skullf*ck crew who were also on site preparing to build their Empire.   Hippie Tim and Kat from Club Pedro were there sewing the final touches to what would become an awesome pyramid.     Empires and pyramids – fitting for this years’ theme of FutureHistory.

Theme Camps and volunteers kept coming in over the following days.  By Tuesday, we’d gotten The Green Fairy, most of The Greeters Station, and the Merkaba built.   The Man, The Temple, Centre Camp and the bigger sound camps – Skullf*ck Empire, Club Pedro, Drop Zone, and Pink Moa – were all in progress.   Time for the requisite Green Fairy pre-party for the 40 or so of us on site.  Fun!  By Wednesday evening all of the committee members were on site, and a few more theme camps and art pieces had gone up.   We were 60-strong and it was Skullf*cks turn to host a party complete with DJ’s throwing down some good breaks and drum & bass, and some ice cold beers and homemade moonshine.  Well done!

Thursday morning marked the official opening of the festival.  We’d been a bit nervous about attendance since our pre-sales had been a bit low and we were wondering if we’d even hit last year’s attendance numbers of 180 people.  At minimum, we were hoping for 25% growth to 225 people, which would probably just make us profitable.   What an amazing day!  The cars kept pouring in and the number of gate ticket sales kept increasing.    I had a blast with the volunteers running the Gate/Greeters Station, which I have to say, is an awesome way to meet people.   By the end of the day, we’d mutated over 140 people through the future and history tunnels, bringing our numbers to 200!   It was an exhausting yet totally satisfying day!

The next day we saw another 50 people come through and that combined with our ‘locals’ day in which another 20 people came brought our numbers to around 270.  The attendance far exceeded our expectations.    Watershed.

So, just what went on at Kiwiburn?  How does one describe the crazy mix of performance art, theme camps, art installations, flair, silliness, seriousness, debauchery, and solemnity, that goes on in a paddock in the middle of New Zealand?  I doubt I can do justice and in no way will be able to mention everything that went on, so you may need to read this thread on the forums for other people’s input, but I’ll see what I can do.

The scale of the projects in relation to the number of people working on them was tremendous.  Everyone stepped it up by a large magnitude.  Polly’s Put the Kettle On became a magnificent gathering place morning, noon, and night, for drinks and nibbles, complete with chaises, comfy chairs, and our newest addition, the Paddock Post, where one could write letters to anyone in Aoetearoa, on or off the paddock and have mail delivered by the Paddock Postie several times a day.    The Skullf*ck Empire was so impressive, consisting of two large Romanesque structures housing their massive sound system and amazing bar.  Props to the young Auckland crew who labored all year to bring us the Empire.     Camp Pedro morphed into Club Pedro, a giant Egyptian pyramid, which could be seen well across the paddock and was an awesome dance zone complete with lasers, DJ’s, and bar. Balrogs Playpen of amazing firespinners gave us a show on Burn Night that would make Maid Marian and the Burning Man Fire Conclave proud.     The mobile black light vodka bar was cool, and so was Gadget & Tammi’s Texture For the Soul, a black-light chill space which was covered from top to bottom in faux fur and bean bag chairs and was the place to be in the wee cool hours of the morning.   I loved their space!    The Pirate Ship was back and better than ever thanks to Lumos who brought and fitted it with an outboard motor.  The Pirate Ship puttered around the lake complete with drunken pirates.   Handyman Bill, who seemed to have everything in his van full of tricks brought several kayaks and brought a whole lot of love to many of us hanging out at the lake during the 40 degree days.    StinkyPuppy made a lot of people happy by bringing 20 or so bikes which made bridging the gap between the sound camps and the main camping area much, much easier.    Il Sucio Mexicanos brought some tequila love,  Princess Camp offered hair flair, the Kostume Korner and Wearable Arts Fashion House pimped everyone up a bit.   Healer Camp arose from the efforts of several and meditations, massage, and a serene setting were on offer there.    The Drop Zone was back with their awesome sound system, dance zone, and eclectic films and Pink Moa brought the pink again.  The newest sound camp addition, Celebrity Camp I think they were called, while never getting their sound groove on, did erect a huge effigy of Paris Hilton which they offered up to the great big bonfire on Burn Night much to the dismay of some of those watching who could be heard shouting “Save Paris!”   HiDive brought to life for the last and final time, the Sheep End, which could be seen zipping around the paddock and which brought the beats to us at the Burn.   Oh, and I should mention: naked jelly wresting.

And the art was wonderful.   The Merkaba offered contemplation;  Mark’s ANDNA was a beacon in the night;  and Abbie’s Candy Tree provided the sweetness.   Mars & Ellen created a gorgeous interactive art space at the tree by the lake called Hickory Dickory Dock.  They laboured for days to create the amphitheatre-like space, with colorful flags and artwork and an elaborate panel for folks to colour in.   And you had to be in the know to find Tim’s The One, a huge illuminated and sound-filled dice set up ‘way over yonder there.’   LippyLou, Myles, Rich, and the temple crew created a beautiful and colourful piece, complete with a vaginal entranceway.    Perched on a hill, the flags of the temple flew majestically in the wind and could be seen from everywhere.

This was also a big growth year for the committee with lots of year-long planning and discussions about safety and security at the festival.   We’d been talking about needing someone ‘on-call’ 24 hours a day, to be the ‘go-to’ person of sorts who would be available for anyone and anything.  This became the MUDFOP:  muggle under duress, finger on the pulse person (don’t ask me how we came up with that moniker for I can’t explain) and we rallied a cadre of trustworthy individuals to take 6-hour sober shifts throughout the event.   Thanks to Dr. Windy, the MUDFOP could be easily identifiable from across the paddock with their colourful faux fur hat and vest!    And this year saw the beginnings of the Black Sheep Wranglers, akin to the Black Rock City Rangers, who, in their well-identified t-shirts, walk around and are available 24 hours a day to assist with any type of “issue”:  conflict-resolution,  gate jumpers,  and the like.   We owe a tremendous amount of thanks to Ranger Dave Bradshaw, a veteran Burner, BRC Ranger, and co-organizer of Spain’s regional BM event, Nowhere.  Dave flew in from the UK and gave us copious guidance and insight on how to make the festival safe and enjoyable for everyone.  We all learned heaps from Dave and have all gotten pretty flash with our walkie talkie vernacular.    Transitional.

Oh yeah, and then there was that man burning thing (hehehe) and the pre-burn which we did at the request of the local fire chief who couldn’t make it to the Burn but was keen to come ‘round for a pre-burn.  So we did.   We burned stuff on night #2 and the fire department came and the Balrogs spun and everyone danced.  All in preparation for THE REAL THING the next evening in which the fire department came, and the Balrogs spun, and we burned the man in a beautiful fiery flame complete with fireworks.   A HUGE shout out goes to Long Island Ryan whose passion for flame (and safety) created such a beautiful burn.  And it goes without saying that we all absolutely love and appreciate Kiwi for oh so many reasons:  his awesome vision and building skills to bring the Man to fruition, his tirelessness at running the DPW, his endless dedication to Kiwiburn.  I don’t think we could do it without you Kiwi.      As if that wasn’t enough,  Pearl created and brought to us again, the magical fire labyrinth, which we all glided through.  So transformative.

But Kiwiburn isn’t just about the stuff, it’s about the people, the connections made, the friendships deepened.   We wouldn’t be Kiwiburn without the awesomeness of the individuals who come and create it.  We had folks from all over the world and surprisingly (though I should be getting less surprised) a large contingent from the United States, mainly the west coast, and specifically a good handful from the Bay Area!  What fun it was to reminisce on the paddock about Mission burritos and canoeing in Guerneville.     Polly, Kiwi, Shelley, Mark, Bruce, Wendy, Jodi, Cass, Alyn, Kyla, Sam, Kiwi, Roey, Rich, Jeremy, Lynda, Joel, Myles, Gadget, Tami, Nigel, Jez, Carl, Linus, Poppy, Lily, Zane, Ants, Tim, Kat, Andy, Jane, Jason, Michael, Sophia, Alan, Ari, Lev, Elias, Lucy, Ashan, Chris, Tyler, Abbie, Allan, Gizelle, Ryan, Paula, Dave, Ruby, Will, Kora, Abby, Pete, Skat, Elijah, Roy, Alfred, HiDive, DJ Dave, Ranty Dave, Heidi, Bunny, Pearl, Will, Lumos, Bill, Sam, Sunny, Jack, Pixie, and Bacon.  These are just a few of the folks I met and know.  There are so many more.  Thank you all for making it another terrific event, an amazing burn, and an awesome community to be a part of.

‘Till next year.

(For more photos, see our picassa web album)

 “Slow down, you move to fast, you got to make the morning last…”

One of my life lessons to learn is to slow down.   It’s something that can be quite difficult for me as my mind is always onto something else; my body is generally always in constant motion.   Someone’s on the phone; there’s an email to be read; there’s an event to attend.  My life in New Zealand is really not that much different than it was in San Francisco when it comes to having too much to do.

What I particularly enjoy doing for relaxation is hiking and tramping.  I’ve been quite remiss in making time for this very important leisure activity and had recently made a vow to myself that I’d devote more effort into getting out into the bush.

There is a host of wonderful three to four day private walking tracks in New Zealand.  These are the ‘cush’ tramps on private land, ones where your backpacks and chilli bins (coolers/food) are ported for you and all you need do is carry a daypack.   The hut accommodations are quite nice, complete with hot showers, and often stocked with goodies such as wine, beer, and various sundries for purchase.   It’s easy tramping.      Wally Hirsh has done the 25+ private tracks and has compiled all the information into one handy website.   I want to do them all!

We’d done two of the four local tracks already:  Banks Peninsula Track in 2005 with Darek (before we moved to New Zealand), and The Kaikoura Coast Track in February 2008 also with Darek and friends Mary and Kelly.     Next on the list was the Hurunui High Country track with just me and Bruce.

Located only 90 minutes from Christchurch, we set off for our leisurely drive to Hurunui on Saturday afternoon.   We started our little holiday by stopping at the Hurunui Hotel for a quintessential New Zealand pub meal:  burgers (complete with beetroot and fried egg) & fries and a couple of beers.   Then onwards to the Station.

Dan and Mandy Shand, a young 30-something couple, run the 71,000-acre station.  The land has been in the family since 1928.  After doing their OE (overseas experience),  they came back to New Zealand with plans to settle and carry on with the farm.   Apparently, however, farming this station is not economically viable and so they have branched out by getting into tourism and into honey production, having over 600 hives producing the New Zealand popular manuka honey.    Dan and Mandy are an extremely together couple and they laboured for three years to create the track through 30 kilometres of the most scenic parts of their land.   Their attention to detail and thoughtfulness in providing guests with all the creature comforts really made this an exceptional tramp.

Our first night was spent in the old shearers quarters – The Cook House — where we had a comfortable twin private room.  Mandy ran the evening ‘briefing’ meeting where we got the low down on the tramp and we got to meet the other guests.   They can accommodate up to ten people per day and we were fortunate to only be six.  We met Paul & Jane and Philip & Jocelyn, older couples from Christchurch with whom we’d be sharing the next two evenings.

Day 1:   The longest day, tramping 14.6 km with 350-metre elevation change.   It was a beautiful day, a bit overcast with a nice breeze.  We set off by 10:30, meandering through the valley following along the river and through parts of a neighboring government-owned pine forest before making the slow ascent to the 750-metre summit lookout point where we stopped for lunch.    We’d been given maps and a little brochure pointing out some of the highlights of the land. It was a relatively easy hike and we took our time, pausing quite often for snacks and a rest and a chance to just look around.   Though the vistas were quite stunning, it was easy to see that the land was not that fertile, with much of it supporting alpine vegetation which is not enough fodder for stock animals.  Though Mandy & Dan have approximately 350 cattle and 1000 sheep on the land, this apparently is a low stock-to-land ratio and is a reason why farming here is not totally viable.

About three-quarters of the way, after we summited and made our descent, we were greeted at the Gill’s Block Day Hut by a lovely and most welcome surprise.  I can’t say what it was but let’s just say we were happy despite battling the sand flies!

We finally got to Valley Camp around 4:30.  The others had already arrived and settled into the hut which would have easily accommodated all of us.  However, there was a smaller former hunters hut just a short distance away and Bruce & I decided to bunk in there for the evening.   Another surprise awaited us all – two bottles of champagne that the six of us delighted in over our evening meal.

Day 2:  The hardest day, tramping 8.2 km with several ups and downs.   Another nice day of overcast skies.   We started by heading straight up along an old pack track.  The terrain was dry and sparse; once to the summit though, the terrain changed and we got more into bush and forestry as we made our way down to Bush Hut.   Again, we took our time, pausing often to take in the scenery.  We sang songs, we ate, and we relaxed!  After 4 ½ hours we arrived at camp.  Bush Hut was nestled in a beautiful forested basin, tucked in the trees, close to the river.   The main hut had bunks for eight, plus there were three 2-person tent/cabins that the other couples opted for so Bruce & I took the spacious hut.  The kitchen was located in separate 10×10’ building and was tiny!!!   And the separate shower room was awesome – funky, artsy, and functional!  Nothing like a piping hot shower after a day of tramping.    We had a lovely afternoon of napping and ready and then spent a fun evening with the others, drinking and chatting and playing scrabble.

Day 3:  The easiest day, tramping 7 km with some small elevation changes.   We totally took our time partially because we didn’t have much distance to cover and partially because my knee started giving me trouble.    This was my least favorite part of the track as a good portion of it was on open dirt road.  The highlights though were the walk by the small lagoon and through the black beech forest.   Oh, and the friendly llamas!   We were back at base camp by 2:30 where Mandy greeted us with hot coffee & tea and baked treats.    A wonderful end to a lovely three days!

We decided we’d go up to the north island for the work weekend as we wanted to see our KB pals.   We’ve also been in the market for a 4×4 SUV and after doing our initial research, we decided that we’d most likely find the SUV that we wanted at a much more suitable price if we purchased it in Auckland.     There’s just more people and more competition there.

So we made a holiday out of it, flying up to Auckland and staying with our KB friend Shelley for a couple of nights.   We got to see a bunch of our Auckland friends during the evenings, BBQ’ing and socialising and reconnecting and having a jolly good time.

During the days of our short 72 hour stay, we rented a car and frantically ran around, looking at and test driving a couple of the SUVs that we wanted:  a Nissan Patrol/Safari, diesel, manual, 2 door-5 passenger, 6 cylinder, 4.2 cc, honkin’ big ol’ vehicle.   Capable of hauling over 2500 kg, this vehicle was going to be perfect for Wainui.  Turns out there aren’t many of these around but we’d found three to choose from.   New ones go for $30,000+ which is totally not our style; so we were looking at early 1990’s models which, depending on the condition, were selling for $6 – $15,000.

Now Bruce & I know very little about buying big powerful trucks.  It can be a nerve-racking experience.  But New Zealand makes it easy peasy!   The NZ Automobile Association offers a mobile pre-purchase car inspection service whereby they’ll send out a mobile mechanic who will do a complete 1 ½ hr inspection on-site for the mere sum of $140.   A small price to pay for such a potentially big financial commitment.   We had two trucks we were interested in and so we had inspections done on both.  And one came out with flying colors so WE BOUGHT IT!

Yes, Bruce & I are the proud owners of a very sexy, sea-green, big machine!  I love it!!!! We bought it from a lovely couple who’d kept it quite tidy and used it for driving to and from work.  They were easy to work with and very helpful in assisting us with getting it serviced at their mechanic and in getting everything done so we could pick it up on  Friday afternoon in time to drive it down to the Taupo area for the KB work weekend.  And yes, we are now a three car family as we’ll keep the van and the honda civic as they each have their useful purpose (and Ken, I know you’re giving us the ‘tsk, tsk’ face, but really, we NEED all three vehicles at this juncture of our life transition).

The Kiwiburn work weekend was loads of fun.  About 20 folks showed up who hailed from all over the north island:  Auckland, Tauranga, New Plymouth, and Wellington.  We camped out in the paddocks and worked grubbing thistles, cutting bamboo, tested out art projects, and just connected and brainstormed about the upcoming festival in February.

Oh, and we got to test out our new 4×4 in action.   One of our friends ‘accidentally’ drove his van into a ditch on the paddock.  And it was very, very stuck.  Nissan Safari to the rescue!  And thankfully we have friends who know how to drive 4wd’s and handle such things as we sure didn’t.   Kiwi and HiDive orchestrated the ‘rescue’ and our Safari made it look easy, pulling that van out like it was pulling out a kids toy car.   No stress, no mess.   Awesome!!!!

We spent a night in Wellington at Dr Windy’s place.  Oh my, what a wonderful place she has perched on the top of a hill overlooking city below.  The vistas were amazing and we had a really nice evening hanging out and chatting.

The next day we caught the morning ferry and made the long ten hour, enjoyable journey back to Christchurch, stopping along the Kaikoura coast for some nibbles and for some awesome photo shoots.

An excellent week-long, spring-time, much-needed adventure!

Ngatimoti is nestled in the Motueka Valley  Very fertile, it is filled with produce growers cultivating grapes, apples, and hops used for beer.     Shiloh & Lani own a 60 hectare property tucked in one of the valleys. They’ve been on their land for 18 years and have created a permaculture paradise. When they bought the property, it had been pastureland for a long time but one would never guess looking at it now.  Lush & verdant, they’ve planted thousands of trees including over 100 nut trees (walnuts, almonds, macadamia, hazelnuts) and an amazing array of fruit trees.   The native bush in the deep valley has regenerated.

They’ve built everything.   Shiloh is a stone mason by trade.  He designed and built most of their house;  he designed and built a water wheel (pictured above), an amazing work of engineering which powers a bank of batteries which powers their house.   They’ve made a huge solar deydrator (pictured below) to dry all their excess fruits and vegetables and have an amazing cold store room for all their bottled goodies.   They are totally off the grid.   No television, no computers, no refrigerator or freezer.    The toilet is an outhouse which he designed so that they can compost the waste onto their forestry area.  The lifestyle they lead is very much one driven by the land and one that is quite peaceful.   They know how to work hard yet relax and have fun.

We spent three days relaxing and asking lots and lots of questions.  We helped out in the bountiful garden, helping to sow corn and peas.   We cooked a lot of delicious yet simple meals including homemade pasta!  Briar showed Aarla and I how to make small rugs using a Navajo Indian weaving technique.  The boys (including Bruce) played musical instruments. It was delightful.

I’d thought I was getting a summer holiday though and was really looking forward to a burst of warm weather.   Alas, that’s not what the weather gods had in mind.  A southerly storm blew in bringing a lot of rain and snow into the higher mountain regions.  It was quite cold.   Our drive home through the Lewis Pass offered lovely vistas of snow peaked mountains and snow tipped pine forests.  We stopped at Maruia Hot Springs for a soak in the tubs and enjoyed some al fresco dining by the car before finishing our drive home.

An excellent and inspirational trip!

Ever since Bruce has been dabbling in making orgone devices and merkabas, he’s taken up an interest in gems.   Months ago he said to me, “We have to go over to this gem show in Greymouth this October” to which I replied, “yeah, great.”   Perfect excuse for a little holiday!

So the time finally upon us, we made the journey over to the West Coast and stayed for three days.   Greymouth is a little less than 300 km (200 miles) from Christchurch, almost directly opposite it, on the west coast of the south island.   With a population of 14,000, and located at the foot of the Grey River, it’s an old gold-mining town, and historic buildings and remnants of old mines can still be seen.   Rather small and provincial, one of the most interesting ‘town’ activities is touring the Monteith’s brewery (highly recommended and which we’ve done on previous trips) which culminates in a generous sampling of their wide range of beers; otherwise, the draw is all the nearby outdoor activities:  hiking, mountain biking, rafting, tubing through caves, surfing, and combing the beaches for agates and other stones.

We booked ourselves into the Global Village Travellers Lodge, tucked away on the side of a bank along the river just a few blocks from the main part of town.   I have to say, it was one of the nicest backpackers in which we’ve stayed.   A private double room runs $60/night and amenities include a sauna and spa pool, a weight room, and the use of kayaks and mountain bikes.   The owners are world travelers themselves, and the place is filled with art from Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, and other Pacific Rim countries.

We attended the gem show on Friday armed with our crystal book (Crystal Power, Crystal Healing by Michael Gienger) and ready to pick up a few treats for ourselves.  Rather small, perhaps only 50 vendors from around the country displaying their wares, it was quite intimate and we had a good time chatting with the passionate folks whom, we found out, many hike up rivers and into old mines to hand collect the stones themselves.    A good amount of the wares came from around New Zealand, although a few folks had world collections.  We were wide-eyed and ready to spend, and spend we did.   Our biggest treat for ourselves was the purchase of a large Brazilian amethyst geode.  Oooh, we’d been eyeing these for years and the price was right on this one, so into our collection it came.    In addition to that lovely piece, we bought a gorgeous piece of malachite (green),  kyanite (blue) and a large quartz (white) which will all be displayed around the house in Wainui.   On a smaller scale, we picked up some serpentine (greens), rhodenite (pink), aventurine (green), chrysoprase (apple green), labradorite (blue), some agates (greens/blues), rose quartz (pink), and calcite (yellow).  Quite a haul!   Yet, all of them have spiritual and physical properties which we thought would be good for us and would be helpful to use in our meditations.

I’d been particularly interested in getting some hiking in as it’d been so long since we’d been in the bush.  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it rained for the first 48 hours we were there (the west coast gets some of the wettest weather in the country), so we made do by sleeping in and reading quite a bit.  Totally relaxing.   By Saturday afternoon I was getting a little antsy, and during a break in the weather, I dragged Bruce to go on a one hour bush walk through Omotumotu Park, right on the outskirts of town.  Refreshing yet somewhat muddy, we got halfway through before it started heavily raining again, and by the time we finished the walk, we were entirely soaked!   On Sunday, the skies cleared up, and we managed another one hour walk on King Domain track, which zigzagged uphill to four separate lookout points which offered great views of Greymouth and the Grey River Valley.

We took the scenic route home, passing through Lake Brunner where we enjoyed a scenic lunch by the lake.  And we also stopped in Arthur’s Pass and did another short hike up to Devil’s Punchbowl Falls.  We got a chance to observe the famed high country parrots, the Kea, which are known for tearing and nibbling on the rubber of car windscreens!   These Kea were perched at one of the lookout points, seemingly content on eating handouts from the tourists (some people apparently can’t read the ‘do not feed the Kea’ signs).

All in all, a great weekend getaway!

It has been the week of Burning Man.

If you have ever been to Burning Man even just once, if you got what it was about, and I don’t mean nudity and drugs and wild dancing, but ‘it’ being a true expression of freedom, of being in community, of being self-reliant in extreme conditions, then no matter where you are in the world during the last week of August/beginning of September when the event in the Black Rock City Desert takes place, you will find that the tether remains unbroken, and you will pause for a moment of reflection, or perhaps you will even celebrate and honor the great gift than Burning Man has bestowed upon us: freedom. Freedom to play, freedom to be released from the daily routines of every day life, freedom to honor oneself and enjoy the ritual of casting off the old and rejoicing in the new.

Bruce and I and a number of the Kiwiburners decided to throw down a dance party in parallel with the burning of the Man. For several months beforehand, we started talking about it and I volunteered to organise what we have affectionately come to call “Melting Man.” Like last year, we decided to have the party in the mountains about an hour outside of Christchurch. The good folks of Flock Hill Station were gracious enough to let us hold our one-night dance party on their property yet again.

We were seven who committed early on: me, Bruce, Hippie Tim, Wendy, Rich, Cass, and Jeremy: three Cantabrians, two Wellingtonians, and two Ozzies. Rich agreed to DJ and bring down the gear; Bruce and I had the remaining infrastructure. Tim crafted a poster and we started letting friends and burningman-curious folks know. The weather all winter long was stormy and cold and I was extremely worried about having an outdoor party in the snow or rain. Folks were not wanting to commit to coming.

During the week preceding the party, Cass gave me a ring and said ‘I-have-to-go-to-Burning-Man-and-I’m-leaving-tomorrow’ (what did I tell you about that tether?). Sad and happy at the same time, we wished her loads of fun. HiDive was planning to come down from Waiheke but had to cancel a few days before. But we started to get others to say YES. Two of Tim’s friends from New Plymouth were riding down with Wendy and Rich, and another Wellingtonian, John, decided to come too. Lady Steph and Pete came up from Oamaru and with Steph’s help, we convinced several of our New Brighton friends to join in the revelry. Tim playfully coerced his crew of anarchist revelers to join us as well.

The core group rode up to Flock Hill on Friday afternoon and booked into two cabins. We were ten for the night including Lady Steph, Nikki and his daughter Anna. The forecast for the weekend miraculously called for dry, sunny, warmish weather. The drive up was beautiful, the snow-capped mountains glistened. We had time to survey the site for the party and The Knoll was perfect. The road up to the Knoll had been graded so we were able to drive all the equipment up there ourselves (unlike last year when we had to borrow ‘Suzi’ the 4wd Station vehicle!)

The sun welcomed in Saturday and we all busied ourselves with various tasks. We had arts and crafts day out in the yard with Steph, Wendy, Bruce, Nikki, Anna, and myself all making posters and signs and painting large sticks to use as pathway markers.

Some people worked up at the site to get the tent and gear ready. Mid-afternoon the guys all went on a drive all the way up to Arthur’s Pass to find some snow for our Man which Bruce, John and Rich then built.

Because the season had been so wet, Jason, the station manager, said that we could have a fire, spin fire, and ‘burn’ our man if we wanted to. That was music to our ears. I circulated around the backpackers and the main dining area of the Station and invited everyone to the party.

The ‘crew’ finally arrived by 6 and included Pete, Emma, Lucy, Genevieve, Koosje, Laura, Tabatha, Chris, Rosie, and Ollie. We did a big pot luck dinner with the 19 of us gathered in the large lounge of one of the cabins. What a feast!

We dressed in our paddock-fabulous warm outfits and slowly made our way up to the Knoll. Everyone was given glowsticks and we lit the path. Rich kicked things off at 10. The night was stunningly clear, the stars bright. And slowly cars and folks arrived. I met a group newly arrived in New Zealand of young British doctors beginning their 1-year residency work at Christchurch Hospital. They were stoked to stumble upon a dance party. Shane and some others from Christchurch came over from Castle Hill because they’d heard about us. The cook from Flock Hill, Benjamin from Belgium, had his 27th birthday that day. He relieved Rich later that night and played an awesome set of music. Mark, one of the Station’s owners came up to ‘see what we were about’. In addition to Benjamin, a number of the other Station staff partied with us, including Jason. I think we were close to 50 people!

Wendy fire-hooped and Emma & Tim spun fire poi and dazzled the crowd. People huddled around the fire, someone brought face paints. We gave out bikkies, chocolate, and absinthe. We danced and we chatted about Kiwiburn and Burning Man.

I don’t know what time it was, but somewhere in the early hours, Wendy said it was time to melt the man. Rich pumped out an awesome track which folks found perfect for their lyrical ‘Melt-the-Man’ chant and dance. Bruce soaked the man with petrol. Someone (Steph?) carried a few branch-torches from the fire and lit the man, who in Burning Man fashion, ignited in a glory of blazing flames and then toppled over, melting away. Everyone cheered; most of us danced. We released.

The night grew cold; frost appeared on the car windows and on the ground. I was oblivious to it myself. Over time almost everyone drifted off, but a few hearty souls managed to welcome the dawn.

We were all up early, very much sleep-deprived, to start packing and cleaning up as we had to be out of our rooms by 11 am. It was another perfectly clear sunny day. We moved a bit slowly. We packed up the vans. We said our goodbyes, and the eight of us (me, Bruce, Chris & Tyler forever now known as Harold & Kumar, Wendy, Emma, Rich, & John) started our journey back to Christchurch.

We decided to stop and spend a few hours at Castle Rock, only 20 minutes away. Castle Rock is an awesome spot of majestic limestone rock formations: a world class haven for rock-climbers. We made the ten minute walk up to the site and after a short look about, proceeded to immediately relax and bask in the sun’s warmth. Perfect!

We finally arrived back in Christchurch by late afternoon. Most of the group was crashing at our place for the night before making the drive back to Wellington on Monday. We chilled out, drank some wine, made dinner, and talked about how much fun we all had. And then we were early bed, exhausted, yet satiated.

An excellent party; excellent weekend. I am grateful to all that made the effort to come and I am especially grateful to Flock Hill Station and to Jason Robinson who welcomed and supported us again this year and allowed our merry band of burners to have our southern hemisphere Burning Man.