2.18.11

new home number 13

the eye of the kiwi

i met a couple at the top of mt. stokes - the only people i saw that whole day. they had started before me and i followed their tracks up all morning. when i reached the summit i sat and chatted with them, curled on rocks, overlooking all that lay below us, for about two hours. they were locals, regional tramping fanatics and like all kiwi's i've met they took extraordinary pride in their home and even their region. when i told them i was on the hunt for the best beaches the woman immediately said coyly,

"oh we know the best beach on the south island, but you'll never find it."

"which?" said her husband.

"wharariki," she said and he gave an, "ahhh," and affirmative nod.

"well here, write it down anyway," i said, "i might."

a month earlier a german in christchurch had urged me to go to the farewell spit.

"skip abel tasman," he said, "go to golden bay." so because of him and his emphatic, unsolicited, travel advice that had long been my planned route.

when i got close and studied the map i realized that the farewell spit and the mystery beach were the same destination. i had inadvertently and unkowningly been heading to wharariki the entire time. it found me so to speak..

have you ever felt an immediate connection with a place that was so powerful and so palpable it knocked the wind out of you? sent your head spinning? that is new home number 13. as soon as i got to golden bay here i knew i'd stay. and just like that, events conspired to keep me put. which is how, out of nowhere and almost instantaneously i found myself a resident of the wharariki holiday camp. i live and work with a kooky group of likeminded adventurers on the best beach in new zealand. possibly the world.

it is strange to stay put in a place where everyone comes and goes so quickly. a hundred times a day i answer the questions, 'where are you from? how long have you been here? how long are you staying?'

'the states. i can't remember. i don't know.'

i have met so many people just passing through paradise but i am coming to know the handful that stay and the whole thing is quickly becoming one of my favorite great adventures yet.

come or go though, everyone here remarks on it's remarkableness. i hear the word 'magical' all day long. and in the end, we are all here because of a beach..."