Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New Year at the Prana Festival, Opoutere!
Great fun camping in amongst the trees at Prana!
And greeting 2009 on the beach ...
... by fire and starlight!
Whangapoua Harbour
A gorgeous spot to spend the night ...
... and a fantastic place for an early morning swim!
... and a fantastic place for an early morning swim!
Christmas, New Year, Festivals and Camps!
Wow, it’s been 4 weeks exactly since our last blog entry. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun!
We had a wonderful Christmas at Aio Wira, starting Christmas Day back at Earthsong Co-housing for a communal and rather unusual (for us) breakfast of sweet and savoury waffles with avocados, tomatoes, scrambled eggs, strawberries, pineapple and cherries! The rest of the day we spent at Aio Wira with Di and her family and friends. Di’s ex-partner, Bob, is a keen photographer and he and Richard enjoyed a long conversation and time looking at some of Richard’s photos. Richard particularly enjoyed Bob’s appreciation of some of his more ‘quirky’ shots! Bob even offered to give Richard some software for photo-cropping etc. for which Richard was extremely grateful and which, no doubt, he will enjoy playing with in due course.
We left Aio Wira on Boxing Day and headed East to the Coromandel for the Prana New Year Festival. Stopped en route in Auckland to collect the software from Bob’s house and to visit the house, 14A Maroa Road, where Julie lived when she was in NZ many years ago. Later that day we stopped at The Driving Creek Cafe for lunch – a beautiful organic cafe 3K north of Coromandel town. Then we headed East and stopped for the night on a fantastic roadside lay-by right on the edge of Whangapoua Harbour – gorgeous! In the morning we both had a swim in the cool and shallow waters of the harbour before heading south to find New Chums Beach – apparently the 7th most highly rated beach in the world (rated by whom we don’t know). It was beautiful, and secluded, no doubt in part due to the fact that there is no vehicle access and you have to clamber over rocks for about half an hour to get there! Overall, we’re glad we went. We’ve seen equally if not more beautiful beaches in NZ in our opinion though. Isn’t it great that we’re all different and like different things.
Later that day, quite by chance, we stumbled across ‘Wilderland’ at Coroglen – another eco-community Richard was keen to visit. The founders, Ziggy and Thomas, weren’t around but we met a lovely man in their farm shop and bought a yellow cucumber, tangelo juice and pahutakawa honey – all very tasty!
Next stop was Hot Water Beach – although we only stayed on the cliff top for the night and decided not to wait for low tide and the opportunity to dig our own hot-pool in the sand and scorch our backsides! So, after an interesting conversation with an octogenarian, quad-biking, farmer, we decided to go to Cathedral Cove instead – another beach that is only accessible on foot or by boat. We chose the pedestrian option! A lovely day in the sun, sand and sea. Surprisingly peaceful despite the many visitors from land and sea!
Spent the night at a DOC (Dept of Conservation) Campsite at Broken Hills, deep in the bush, down a 3K gravel track. Back on the road by 10:30am heading south to Opoutere where we stayed the night at Opoutere Coastal Camping ground run by some friends, Linda and Jack, we met last time we were in NZ. It rained a lot! So we stayed in the van most of the time.
The next morning we drove the remaining 3K to the Prana Festival just up the road, joining the queue to enter the site at about 10:30am. After our scariest moment so far with the van – sliding perilously off the muddy inclined track in to the bush – we eventually managed to get in to the site and find a spot to make home for the next five days, including New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day!
It was a great place and way to end the year and begin another one. The beach was gorgeous. The food fantastic. Workshops were fascinating. Learned a lot about Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Ayurveda, Yoga Nidra, Light-body Healing, Biofuels, and Heart-Tantra. Met some old friends and made some new ones. Enjoyed massages, music and composting toilets (Richard’s favourite loos!). Spent a lovely afternoon with Graham (whom we met at Aio Wira) and his family. His wife, Megan, is an architect and she and Richard enjoyed a long talk about eco-building and we have an invitation to visit them later in our trip so we can see some of Megan’s work. They also very thoughtfully and generously bought us a present – a beach umbrella to keep off the sun!
Rather than join the crowd at the main stage for our New Year celebration, we decided to go to the beach, light a fire, and spend a very special few hours under the stars, bathed by the sound of the waves, interrupted only by occasional fireworks much further away along the beach and eventually the rain which thankfully held off until just after midnight. So began our 2009 ... beautifully, peacefully, surrounded by all 5 elements: Earth (Sand), Water (Sea – and later rain), Fire, Air (The Night Sky) and Ether (the space containing the first four). Gentle and full of potential!
Where were you and what were you doing on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day?
After Prana, we headed south to Katikati and one of our favourite campsites from our previous trip for a couple of days of rest and relaxation – wonderful and much needed. Lots of hot-tubs, saunas, swims and hot showers. Lovely!
Then it was back on the road again to get to Dance and Voice Camps in Hawkes Bay. We took a couple of days to get there, stopping at Bethlehem (no wonder it took us several days!), Kohioaura Beach, Opotiki, Waiotahi Spit, Waioeka Gorge, Morere, Gisborne, and Napier. Not much time for sight-seeing, or anything else for that matter. Pleasant travelling nonetheless. Spending several hours in the hot springs at Morere was a delightful way to spend the morning before arriving at Dance Camp later that day.
Dance Camp (6 days) was wonderful. We met and danced with so many lovely people and Richard ran a ‘7 Words’ workshop which everyone loved. We both joined a small singing group (5 of us in total) that we called ‘Musaka’ to perform a piece called ‘Miserlou’ – a Greek love song – during the camp concert. Great fun! Voice Camp – which began 24 hours later – was equally enjoyable, although much shorter, just 2 days. Yet more lovely people to visit and keep in touch with. We have been made so welcome here! And we’re making so many new friends. It’s wonderful.
We’re now staying at a friend’s house in Hastings (NZ, not Sussex!) and gently reflecting on all that took place at the camps. Last night we visited the hot-pools on the seafront at Napier with Jocelyn, her children and a couple of their friends. Sitting in hot-pools under the stars is becoming something of a habit for us! Can’t be bad, eh?
Well, that’s enough for now. As you can see, we’re having a fantastic time. Looking back, it’s hard to remember that we’ve already done so much. Looking forward, there’s still so much more to enjoy!
Hope you are all well.
Much love, as always
Richard and Julie xxx
We had a wonderful Christmas at Aio Wira, starting Christmas Day back at Earthsong Co-housing for a communal and rather unusual (for us) breakfast of sweet and savoury waffles with avocados, tomatoes, scrambled eggs, strawberries, pineapple and cherries! The rest of the day we spent at Aio Wira with Di and her family and friends. Di’s ex-partner, Bob, is a keen photographer and he and Richard enjoyed a long conversation and time looking at some of Richard’s photos. Richard particularly enjoyed Bob’s appreciation of some of his more ‘quirky’ shots! Bob even offered to give Richard some software for photo-cropping etc. for which Richard was extremely grateful and which, no doubt, he will enjoy playing with in due course.
We left Aio Wira on Boxing Day and headed East to the Coromandel for the Prana New Year Festival. Stopped en route in Auckland to collect the software from Bob’s house and to visit the house, 14A Maroa Road, where Julie lived when she was in NZ many years ago. Later that day we stopped at The Driving Creek Cafe for lunch – a beautiful organic cafe 3K north of Coromandel town. Then we headed East and stopped for the night on a fantastic roadside lay-by right on the edge of Whangapoua Harbour – gorgeous! In the morning we both had a swim in the cool and shallow waters of the harbour before heading south to find New Chums Beach – apparently the 7th most highly rated beach in the world (rated by whom we don’t know). It was beautiful, and secluded, no doubt in part due to the fact that there is no vehicle access and you have to clamber over rocks for about half an hour to get there! Overall, we’re glad we went. We’ve seen equally if not more beautiful beaches in NZ in our opinion though. Isn’t it great that we’re all different and like different things.
Later that day, quite by chance, we stumbled across ‘Wilderland’ at Coroglen – another eco-community Richard was keen to visit. The founders, Ziggy and Thomas, weren’t around but we met a lovely man in their farm shop and bought a yellow cucumber, tangelo juice and pahutakawa honey – all very tasty!
Next stop was Hot Water Beach – although we only stayed on the cliff top for the night and decided not to wait for low tide and the opportunity to dig our own hot-pool in the sand and scorch our backsides! So, after an interesting conversation with an octogenarian, quad-biking, farmer, we decided to go to Cathedral Cove instead – another beach that is only accessible on foot or by boat. We chose the pedestrian option! A lovely day in the sun, sand and sea. Surprisingly peaceful despite the many visitors from land and sea!
Spent the night at a DOC (Dept of Conservation) Campsite at Broken Hills, deep in the bush, down a 3K gravel track. Back on the road by 10:30am heading south to Opoutere where we stayed the night at Opoutere Coastal Camping ground run by some friends, Linda and Jack, we met last time we were in NZ. It rained a lot! So we stayed in the van most of the time.
The next morning we drove the remaining 3K to the Prana Festival just up the road, joining the queue to enter the site at about 10:30am. After our scariest moment so far with the van – sliding perilously off the muddy inclined track in to the bush – we eventually managed to get in to the site and find a spot to make home for the next five days, including New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day!
It was a great place and way to end the year and begin another one. The beach was gorgeous. The food fantastic. Workshops were fascinating. Learned a lot about Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Ayurveda, Yoga Nidra, Light-body Healing, Biofuels, and Heart-Tantra. Met some old friends and made some new ones. Enjoyed massages, music and composting toilets (Richard’s favourite loos!). Spent a lovely afternoon with Graham (whom we met at Aio Wira) and his family. His wife, Megan, is an architect and she and Richard enjoyed a long talk about eco-building and we have an invitation to visit them later in our trip so we can see some of Megan’s work. They also very thoughtfully and generously bought us a present – a beach umbrella to keep off the sun!
Rather than join the crowd at the main stage for our New Year celebration, we decided to go to the beach, light a fire, and spend a very special few hours under the stars, bathed by the sound of the waves, interrupted only by occasional fireworks much further away along the beach and eventually the rain which thankfully held off until just after midnight. So began our 2009 ... beautifully, peacefully, surrounded by all 5 elements: Earth (Sand), Water (Sea – and later rain), Fire, Air (The Night Sky) and Ether (the space containing the first four). Gentle and full of potential!
Where were you and what were you doing on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day?
After Prana, we headed south to Katikati and one of our favourite campsites from our previous trip for a couple of days of rest and relaxation – wonderful and much needed. Lots of hot-tubs, saunas, swims and hot showers. Lovely!
Then it was back on the road again to get to Dance and Voice Camps in Hawkes Bay. We took a couple of days to get there, stopping at Bethlehem (no wonder it took us several days!), Kohioaura Beach, Opotiki, Waiotahi Spit, Waioeka Gorge, Morere, Gisborne, and Napier. Not much time for sight-seeing, or anything else for that matter. Pleasant travelling nonetheless. Spending several hours in the hot springs at Morere was a delightful way to spend the morning before arriving at Dance Camp later that day.
Dance Camp (6 days) was wonderful. We met and danced with so many lovely people and Richard ran a ‘7 Words’ workshop which everyone loved. We both joined a small singing group (5 of us in total) that we called ‘Musaka’ to perform a piece called ‘Miserlou’ – a Greek love song – during the camp concert. Great fun! Voice Camp – which began 24 hours later – was equally enjoyable, although much shorter, just 2 days. Yet more lovely people to visit and keep in touch with. We have been made so welcome here! And we’re making so many new friends. It’s wonderful.
We’re now staying at a friend’s house in Hastings (NZ, not Sussex!) and gently reflecting on all that took place at the camps. Last night we visited the hot-pools on the seafront at Napier with Jocelyn, her children and a couple of their friends. Sitting in hot-pools under the stars is becoming something of a habit for us! Can’t be bad, eh?
Well, that’s enough for now. As you can see, we’re having a fantastic time. Looking back, it’s hard to remember that we’ve already done so much. Looking forward, there’s still so much more to enjoy!
Hope you are all well.
Much love, as always
Richard and Julie xxx
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