We left Dagma & Steve’s in Rotorua on 19th March, with the possibility of meeting again next year in Germany where they are planning to live for a year from about October this year. It will seem strange visiting them in Germany and a lot easier I imagine.
And so we arrived back at Aio Wira to spend five days not eating! It was great to be back, to see Di and Lalage again. It was also good to know that we were there entirely for our own well-being, to work on ourselves, rather than on any WWOOFing jobs Di might have. The fast was a juice and vegetable broth fast. So we were still getting all the nutrients we needed whilst not eating any solid food. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was surprised not to feel hungry at all. Julie had a different experience and found things a little tougher. We were both glad to have done it though and our twelve fellow-fasters were all very supportive and friendly. Did a lot of meditation, yoga and walking. Did my first ever Tai Chi with a wonderful teacher, Ben, from China. Enjoyed several massages, facials, and frequent hot tubs and saunas, all of which help to eliminate toxins. Had an amazingly energetic dance late one night too, going wild to music from Afrocelts and The Who! There was another elimination process we experienced too, which was extremely effective! One of these even involved coffee! We’ll leave you to guess what that might have been!
Our ‘break-fast’ meal on Day 5 was an absolutely delicious baked apple with a prune inside! Thereafter, we took five more days to very gradually return to normal eating. We decided to stay on at Aio Wira to do this, enjoying its beautiful bush setting, mountain stream swimming hole, quail families, sunshine, stillness, spa, sauna, and other facilities, including Friday night at Bethells Beach – a popular gathering place nearby where many of the locals meet to exchange news and enjoy each other’s company. The night we went, a large screen had been erected outside to show a film documenting the history and lives of some of the local families. A fabulous array of refreshments was also available from a mobile cafe that is there every Friday night along with a variety of live music entertainers. The atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly and we could feel a very real sense of community – wonderful! A little different to the atmosphere surrounding an early morning meditation and swim we had at the same beach a few days earlier.
Before we left Aio Wira we visited Graham and Megan in Auckland whom we’d met at the Prana Festival in January (and Graham at Aio Wira back in November). They have a beautiful house overlooking the sea and yet again made us incredibly welcome. We spent a lovely afternoon and evening with them in the company of some of their friends, sharing a wonderful meal. And, as if that weren’t enough, they even offered us the opportunity to spend some time at their family bach at a place called Parekura Bay in the Bay of Islands – how kind and generous is that! They really are a wonderful couple and they have two lovely children too. More about our stay at their bach later!
Something else we did before leaving Aio Wira is watch ‘March of The Penguins’, narrated by Morgan Freeman, an amazing documentary about the life of emperor penguins – and we sometimes think our life is hard! Do watch it if you ever get the chance. You may notice some similarities with scenes in ‘Happy Feet’ if you’ve seen that. Both movies are in my Top 10!
So it was, that with emptied and refilled bellies, new friends, more memorable experiences (including Chris James returning to Aio Wira to run a 5-day Sound Healing workshop, and going to the Basement Theatre in Auckland to watch a famous NZ actress, Danielle (who did a fast at Aio Wira whilst we were there), perform in a very unusual poetry recital accompanied by a base and classical guitarist), we moved on yet again! This time to Ngunguru on the Tutukaka coast, about 35 km north east of Whangarei, to stay with our friend Genevieve in the bush!
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