From Wellington to Auckland I spent a rainy night in Taupo, which is beautiful, but I have to say one of my least favourite places in New Zealand. I will be staying for two nights there on my way southbound to do the 17km day trek known as the Tongariro Crossing. It's said to be one of the most beautiful walks in the world, past craters, lakes and forest.
On the 22nd I stayed at a hostel called City Garden Lodge in the Parnell district of Auckland. Normally I wouldn't mention a hostel, but this one has significance for me. It is right next to Neil Finn's house and studio! And he and his brother are recording an album and rehearsing for a bit of an unveiling concert to take place next week. I could have just died. I have dreamed of being that close and straining my ear in the peaceful night to hear even a possibility of Neil Finn strumming. Well I got the chance to do it in an unstalker fashion! So exciting.
Paihia in the Bay of Islands was the next stop. It was so warm after the chilly south I was in heaven. I took a cruise to see many of the 141 islands that make up the "Bay of Islands". The water was calm and crystal clear and full of dolphins with a few babies out for the day. Magical.
Early on the 24th we left for Cape Reinga. We stopped at a Kauri forest, home to the second largest type of tree (behind the California redwood). These trees live for thousands of years and grow very slowly. When the Europeans came they chopped down thousands of them for houses back in the UK and masts for their ships, because the trees grow extremely straight and tall. Just to give an idea of how tall, they could use a whole tree trunk as a mast for a ship.
From the forest we headed up to 90 mile beach, which is only about 30 miles really. No one is sure why it's inappropriately named. We took our all terrain vehicle onto the sand and drove up the shore, swerving into the waves and around the beach. Exhilerating. This lead to Cape Reinga, where the Tasman and Pacific meet and mix in a foamy dance. There is a definite white line where the two collide and it stretches into the horizon. Maori people believe that when they die, no matter where they are in the world that their spirits travels up 90 mile beach to Cape Reinga. There is a tree at the point, the most northern point in New Zealand, and their spirit seeps through the roots into the ocean. Then they make a journey back to Haiwaiki, a spiritual homeland. Their culture is filled with so many wonderful stories, which I hope to further experience on the intensely Maori east coast.
Later this morning I head to Whitianga (fi-te-anga) on the Coromandel peninsula.
After seeing "Zach" again in the Bay of Islands ordering some fish and chips: I realize the damaging part of thinking I've seen a friend (because I'm far from home). It clips my wings. And the freedom, first true freedom, and independence I'd been working towards drops from me suddenly. I realize part of me is still back there, still sitting in Boston Common, calling me home.
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