Returned from Doubtful Sound boat trip, a stunning piece of Peace. Traveling the fiords, the vistas and sharp sheer rock faces a bed for moss, fern, and eventually self-sustaining tree flora, an island 1.6 meters high and barely 500 feet long (mixing my measurements!) containing 85% of NZ rainforest species. Wow.
11
Dec
South Island Shock
Biting black flies, freezing weather… and amazing vista that stun with their beauty.
That’s right — I’ve left the Cook Islands and back in New Zealand’s South Island (Arrowtown), a place to refresh the soul like cold water… which it is, cold. No more tropical weather and sparkling diving scapes, but I’m resigned to loving grass and sheepies. Oh, the sheepies. Can I hug, please?
While the parents tee off at the local golf course, I’ve found myself a cafe with suitable tea and plenty of wireless to try and thaw this mind and produce something that looks like writing.
Cheers, and all that.
posted by Shannon in Location-Location and have Comment (1)
07
Dec
Vacation Amnesia
You might think Britney Spears on the iPod while crossing New Zealand’s majestic bays via ferry towards Waiheke Island some kind of sacrilege — but let me assure you, my friends, it is a beautiful (life affirming) combination, the sacred and the profane.
30
Nov
Next Exit, Down Under
The sun, ferns, salt and dark lager have bleached my brain. I am now sitting by myself at the (mahogany? kaori wood?) bar at a place called “Schnappa Rock” and enjoying a very tall pint while I write and look at the ocean:
25
Nov
Off Again, Down Under
Tēnā koutou ! I’m in Aukland, New Zealand!
But don’t have much time to write, because I am jetlagged and have to go… write. Behind quite a bit on my NaNoWriMo novel and have calculated that I need to hit about 4000 words/day to make it happen. (You thought I quit? Oh, come on- you should know me better than that. Don’t you know sarcasm when you read it?)
Aside from zoning out to Ugly Betty episodes and trying to sleep in uncomfortable no-legroom positions during my 12 hour flight, I did manage to eek out another 1000 words or so — so off I go for the remaining 3 tonight, before I pass out in a jet-lag-gin-and-tonic stupor and wake again tomorrow to head off for the North Island’s Bay of Islands.
Hei konā ~