Heart of Wonder

I am battling my first kiwi cold. It is about as lame as Canadian ones. I have 5 more hours to get better. Early tomorrow morning we board the bus for Mount Aspiring. I am really looking forward to a scenery change. We (Scotty, Brian and I) will be accompanying a group of a few dozen boys on their week-long outdoor ed. trip to the school's lodge. There we'll take the boys out tramping, river kayaking, fishing, climbing and abseiling. The setting is supposed to be seriously picturesque and very remote. We will be without phone or internet for the week. I'm not even supposed to bring my ipod, but I will probably smuggle mine in. Music and nature go so well together.

Way up North, on the West Coast of the Southern Island lies Karamea: a remote farming settlement which lies between steep green mountains and deep turquoise surf. Cows feed on pastures set amongst palm trees and adorable little surf shacks line the narrow streets. Smiles crept across our faces as the relaxed, easy-going vibe came over us.

"Drive to the end of the road"


Maybe we should have listened a little better to his directions. We exchanged glances and shrugs as the pavement gave way to a narrow gravel road boardered by fields of cattle.

We kept going. Dead end. No road to get out except the one we came in on.

And here lies the world's most gorgeous campground. 

We pulled in at dinner time. Our car (that's a whole 'nother story) decided to stop in the middle of the driveway and would not restart for the life of us. I grumpily carried the tent to our site on my own and got swarmed by those blasted sandflies which made me even more grumpy. And then we realized we had no way to cook dinner (no communal kitchen way out here).  

I was ready to throw in the towel. I'm going to bed, I sighed.

It was so close.

But I listened to that little voice urging me to stop being a grump- all is not lost. 

Getting over a bad mood is so HARD. Some ugly little stubborn bitch (well, she is) inside of me self-righteously clutches that sour mood like a loaf of bread in famine. She's not my friend, and she wins far too often. When I don't let her win, her ugly sister, reluctance, is usually the best I get.

So me and reluctance rolled our eyes as we agreed to go see the beach. 

We popped out of the tree line onto this golden slab of sand that stretched southward as far as the eye could see. To the north, it ended abruptly in a towering rockface.

Reluctance made it about 10 meters on to the beach.

That little voice was right.

ALL IS NOT LOST. IT SO IS NOT.

We didn't have hot food, but we had wine, cheese, bell peppers and crackers.

And...this...view.

I really can't explain how beautiful this sunset in Karemea was. I can't describe the lightness I felt as I played in the foam. There was this little girl in me that came out. 

WONDER.

Do you remember the last time you were filled with wonder? The last time you just sat and watched something and just felt like you were watching magic unfold?

That's the little girl part of me that came out. That's what she brought. She was far more fun than those two ugly sisters.

And I was this close to throwing in the towel and heading to bed! 

I am hesitant to label something as my favourite place we've been to, but this spot- at the very end of the west coast roadways (no joke, we had to loop back a few hours to get to the top end of the island)- felt like our own little slice of paradise.

I have no clue how Jim and Sarah Badke (they visited the Satake's in January on a little 3 month Kiwi road trip of their own) discovered this place, but they assured us it was worth driving the twisty road, so far out of the way, only to have to drive out just the way we came.

There could be some life metaphors here.

Stuff your eyes with wonder ... live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. 

-- Ray Bradbury 

(source: Tentmaker)