January, Jocelyn, Jo, Joanne, Veronique, Yvonne & Myrto

So where did January go?

After Dance and Voice Camps at Rissington in Hawkes Bay, we spent a delightful week staying with Jocelyn and her children, Hannah and Aaron, at Hastings – just managing to squeeze our van in to her front garden! We also met Jocelyn’s new man, Cameron, and spent many a delightful hour discussing 7 Words, NVC (Non-Violent Communication), the ‘Five Languages of Love’, and much more with them both. Had a picnic on Ocean Beach, discovered an amazing health food shop – Chantels – in Napier, went tramping in the hills of the Te Mata Range, spent an afternoon with Jo & her two year old Ethan whom we met at Dance Camp, and ended our time with Jocelyn and Cameron with a wonderful meal out at Pipi’s Restaurant in Havelock North.

Then we crossed the country from East to West (and a little south!) to stay with Joanne (also from Dance Camp) in Otaki, about an hour’s drive north of Wellington on the West coast. Another delightfully relaxing and pleasant week. Joanne was brilliant, like pretty much everyone we’ve met here, and gave us free run of the house whilst she went out to work. She took us to a Sufi Healing Circle prayer meeting one evening where we met five other beautiful women, all of whom made us feel very special. One Friday afternoon, on her day off, she took us to a fantastic swimming location on the Otaki river, where we had great fun jumping off the rocks in to the river, skimming stones across the water, and remembering what it’s like being a child ‘messing about on the river’. The water was so clear and refreshing. Yet another Dance Camp contact, Yvonne – who runs the Blissmillah Cafe at Camp – also lives near Joanne, so we called in to see her retreat centre on the way back from our swim in the river. Veronique (Guess what? Also from Dance Camp!) lives just up the road from Joanne, so we spent one evening with her discovering ‘WasGijs’ (ask me!), sharing 7 Words, her work with NLP, and looking through some of her fantastic book collection – heaven!

Another surreal experience we had whilst staying with Joanne was visiting the Coehaven Cinema with her – see www.coehaven.biz – a bizarre ‘home cinema’ in Otaki, just up the road from Joanne’s house, screening equally bizarre films! Sat in the front row, which consisted solely of large sofas, with our feet up on footstools, and watched ‘My Brother Is An Only Child’ – an Italian film (with subtitles) set in the 60s and 70s, all about facism and communism – and we were the only three people there!

On Sunday 1^st February, we left Joanne’s and Otaki, heading south to Wellington and the ‘mainland’ (South Island) beyond! In Wellington we stayed with Myrto for a few days, whom we met at Voice Camp, and her husband Des, a lovely couple with a big house and big hearts. From here we explored some of the sights of NZ’s capital city, including Mount Victoria Lookout, Te Papa Museum, the Botanic Gardens, and the Cable Car. Watched a brilliant film called ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’, starring Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro – a New Zealander from Invercargill who spent his life building and racing a very old motorbike – the ‘Indian’ – and who still holds the record for the fastest speed on a 1000cc motorbike, set in Bonneville, USA.

Tomorrow, 5^th February, we set sail at 8.25 am, for the South Island and the adventure continues ...

Much love to you all

Richard and Julie xxx