Tales of the City & Bethels Beach

.... After the catering event at Ashram Yoga Ctr in Auckland (City's nickname is the "Big Smoke"), I treated myself to the movies: District 9 was the featured film. It was about alien refugees who'd established a community in S. Africa. Interesting social dilema to say the least! I indulged by bringing some desert left-over from the catering event, popcorn, n coffee w/whipping cream....yum.

The trip to Auckland turned out to be a good trip. In between work, I was able to explore the city a bit: hung out on K-road, checked out a few of the shops, found a funky coffee shop with good music. I also went on a few walks to the Rose Gardens (although the roses were not in bloom), the Domain (next to the Museum), and out along the waterfront (which was short/and not that interesting). But nonetheless it was good to get out and be in the open air.

After the weekend ended, I decided that I was not quite ready to return to my rustic lifestyle in Ohui, so I called a friend who then invited me out to her place in Bethels Beach. After another night at the yoga center, I packed my bags and headed to Bethels (which is a 45min.-1hr drive from the city). The drive reminded me of the Tacoma- Squim route on the Olympic Peninsula because of a similar crossing/ bridge and the water the road followed. The waterway/ estuary was inhabited by mangroves and tall pampas weed, however the shape of the coast reminded of the Puget Sound.

Once we arrived to Bethels, we went for a long hike up a narrow, muddy path in the mtns. We crossed a small, cool stream at dusk and proceeded up the path that twisted along a steep hillside. We walked barefoot and Ali confidently trodded along, loosing me a couple times...but like a good friend, she'd stop and check to make sure I was still following her. I stubbed my toe pretty good and decided to take it a bit slower than she, but I thouroughly enjoyed the adventure through the Manuka shrubs and Koa Koa trees! We made it to a vista point after about a half hr, which overlooked Bethels and Owens Beach. The moonlight helped guide us down the rest of the spiraling pathway to the soft sand of the local beach. We explored a few caves, which were open because the tide was low-tide. Holding on to Ali's hand and feeling my way along the cold, dark tunnel of the cave, I came to realize the sense of safety and security I felt from being in the presence of someone who knows the area. I relaxed and let my imagination take me to the story of Gollum & Bilbo Baggins-from the book the Hobbit. As we crept along, I whispered "precious, my precious...!" :) Ali was entertained. After seeing the light and the opening of the other side of the tunnel, I felt a bit disappointed thinking that our walk was coming to an end. However, Ali led me next to a cave full of giant glow-worms which resembled stars in the midnight sky. After exploring the glow worm cave, we walked out on to the beach and returned home, walking under the night sky with crescent moon, and white, beaming stars. It was one of the sweetest adventures in NZ yet!

The next day we grabbed a plastic sack to go hunt for muscles. We went way out to the rocky point at the end of Bethels Beach, where we gathered plenty of muscles for our evening feast. Even though Ali fell in the water, she walked back bare-foot, soaked, but with a huge grin. Our feast consisted of cocunut milk, rice, mushroom, onions, taro root, the muscles (of course!), topped off with a bar of NZ 's finest dark chocolate!

Ali is a friend I met through Rose who works for Ashram Yoga in Auckland. She is studying to become a Biodiversity Mgr at the Unitech. Ali is a creative, soul-ful woman who loves to hit up second hand shops (called "Op shops" here Op = Opportunity), make art, talk about environmental issues and spirituality, cook and play music. I hope to get to spend a lot more time with her. When I left she gifted me the next 2 books of the Lord of the Rings, and a stack of books about Maori culture and spirituality from the library. Ali is a wonderful friend and brought me to realized how lucky I am to be here!

Out of the "sticks" and into the Big City

I am in the city! I woke up to car noises instead of a birds and Clara making a fire. What a change in pace! Taking a trip to the big city of Auckland required nothing of me but jumpin in the Saab and agreeing to help cook for 60 people Friday & Saturday night. I will be on the look-out for something fun n exciting to do Friday morning and Sunday afternoon! Perhaps a run to the waterfront and then off to a coffee shop? More later...

Creative living

Since the last posting, I have gone on several amazing beach walks/hikes.
I've chanted and performed a full-moon ritual. Seen 4 dolphin swim 50 m off of the beach (which is a rare sight). Fished off the rocky point of Opoture Beach. Ate "Pipis" muscles and "Tua tuas" clams. Attending a Native American sweatlodge on a parcel of land that extends into the estuary where the Katakati river flows. I've worked with the local milk-delivery man traveling 180km to deliver milk at 4 a.m.

As for the normal every day : I wake-up exercise, practice a bit of yoga, cook breakfast for the community/clean-up, start work (which varies from painting caravans to cleaning toilets or scrubbing the floors of the outside shower). Work goes from 10-4:30 p.m. Today I did yoga and then ran the chainsaw for 2.5 hrs. I continue to live at the ashram, "riding the waves" so-to-speak of the challenges of living in this community: incl. living with an alocholic who keeps to himself, a new baby, a wise woman, a young Irish yogini, a Muslim Malaysian, and a Swami who comes and goes.

I'd like my blog to be about the personal journey. The soul-searching ...

I have moments of great clarity and a deep sense of joy. There are moments where I have thought to myself that I've never been so happy. There are lines/creases from your smile that have never appeared before. While I've experienced this level of joy/peace, I've also had times of confusion, challenge, anxiety, and loneliness. Even though I am traveling, life is still very much the same.

A brief note on life here: I have been learning about meditation and yoga. It is a process that requires a lot of time and practice. We get up early (usually). Light a fire and wrap ourselves up in blankets, make a hot tea, and wait for the 'Sadhana' room to heat up. We (Clara- the Irish girl & myself) will begin our daily practice with a warm-up, then get into our own semi-structered sequence of 'asanas' or postures. We'll finish with breathing exercises 'pranayama' and then meditate for remainder of the time. I am still learning...

I am planning on staying here at the ashram until I am solid with plans to go volunteer/WWOOF at another place. I am contemplating going to Raglan, which is a West coast surf-destination, with a great small town atmosphere. I have been invited to come to Solscape (which you can check out on-line) to stay/ volunteer with. They are basically a community of people supporting an environmentally-sound campground / cabin place. I also may stay in the Coromandel and go to another community that is called the Karuna Falls Coop. but I do not know that much about them. It is interesting that New Zealand has quite a few intentional living communities, many of which focus on permaculture, bee-keeping, and other sorts of projects. I will try to learn as much as possible from these communities.

More to come....