Staying afloat

What a relief not having to keep up with the world anymore!

I’m exerting just enough energy to stop myself from sinking, while enjoying the experience of near weightlessness (a bit cold for this in real time though).

There is time to exercise, read, cook, write and sleep, plus check on Dad’s well being.  I don’t need much apart from a bottle of red wine occasionally. I’m happy with my new $20 winter coat (at right) from the Salvation Army’s posh collection.

It feels good to be useful to the ol’ fella. It’s a win-win. Here he is on the left after his second hot chocolate at the local cafe. The month in Mot has given me the chance to settle down after the upheaval of getting the Taupaki house cleared and rented. It’s great to be free but what shall I do for an encore? 

For a start, I’m practising the principles of non-attachment and carpe diem. My next step is bound to come out of the ether. There is really no point in getting worked up about the fact I am not prospecting for work from the conventional freelance places. Don’t want to. Instead, I’m researching what interests me, stuff of my own speed, websites by writers who are, incredibly, making a living out of being themselves and sharing the vibe about how they managed it. The thing is to find one’s own niche.

I probably wouldn’t be in this situation – adrift at large – if I hadn’t taken to heart the writings of a young man from Portland, Oregon, Chris Guillebeau. Chris’s website The Art of Non-Conformity speaks to stacks of itchy footed folk. I like his humility and ability: he gives away so much.

Being at Riwaka wouldn’t be as pleasant and easy if it weren’t for a lovely group of welcoming and friendly people: Ron and Edith, Tomoko and Raphael, John and Eugene from the beer club, Linda from the organic shop and Ann Marie and William from the Resurgence café. I have still to contact friends and family of friends.

It looks as if Louise will join me in a few weeks to travel down the west coast to Dunedin for Claire’s exhibition.  It will be exciting to see the gallery Rice and Beans that Claire, Gilbert and their friends opened in February.

The first view of Gilden Bay from the top of the Takaka Hill.

The Takaka hill is a great hunk of marble and slate that challenges bikers. The Riwaka river resurges from the interior chambers of this great hill. I joined the 50 Plus walkers when they did the Takaka Hill walkway this week; it was a pretty easy walk, after an initial steep grade, with some great views of the Riwaka valley and Golden Bay. The hill’s rock formations were created by water over millenia.

There are always good sorts among walkers. I’m in awe of people who make a lifetime’s commitment to the outdoors and keeping fit. This is probably because my family was interior and sedentary. Muriel is one of these modest outdoorsy types; it’s no wonder her daughter ran the Milford Track in a day when it takes most people three to walk it. Muriel was full of top advice about being retired and making the most of it by going to the sun for at least a month every winter. This Muriel is terrific, not ‘terrible’ as in the film Muriel’s Wedding.

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Dad was busting to go to Jester House to have breakfast. Despite my suggestion that this establishment might have been overtaken by the Ruby Bay by-pass, Dad insisted I drive on the new highway “until I tell you to stop!” We drove a long way until it became obvious that the bypass had done for Jester House. When we finally found this splendid place (tame eels in season, radical sculptures, warm and earthy atmosphere), it was lovely to be greeted like long lost friends by the chef De Maris the wife of one of Dad’s beer club.

The bush here is a lot spookier than what I'm used to in the North. Unfamiliar birdis calling, too.