I only have a few things to share from this very lazy day of reading, writing, editing, eating and giggling at the Railway Hotel, my odd – but ideal – respite.
Jenel posts this ad on social and it resonates because I am called ‘crazy’ today by the cute checkout girl at the Four Square with blue and purple hair when I tell her how far I’ve walked. She means it as a compliment already offering congratulations with still five days to go. Friends, I’ve got this.
I don’t wear headphones while hiking. It’s not my style to distract from what I’m doing as if just trying to get through the k’s. Besides, I love all the sounds I’ve heard on this long walk – birds I’d never heard before but are now friends, the wind and the water, my shoes getting sucked into the mud, cows and sheep.
Music, though, is with me always. I sometimes sing or whistle, though more often, I hear my favorite pieces in my head. This piece has walked with me over the last few days and is a bit of a theme song.
The rain pours. Missile-like hail the size of marbles clatters on the tin roof of a shed outside my window. It thunders, one of those long, drawn out Waikato type booms, all in clouds.
The best part of today is how much I laughed. Facebook, Stephen Colbert, emails from friends have all got me giggling. Keep sending the good stuff!
A German tramper named Julia arrives and tells me after working in a very misogynist country – Switzerland – she can shrug off weak, bullying men. I like her. We’ll cross paths tomorrow in the final muddy bush, and then it’s the coast all the way to Bluff.
It’s supposed to be sunny and will be a big day tomorrow, so off to sleep.
<bang sticks for luck>
12 Responses
Hard to believe it’s nearly over. How EVER are you going to readjust to “normal” life in MN after this great adventure?
I have another month to goof off in NZ!!!
Well, you’ve certainly earned “goof off” time.
Looking (listening?) forward to having you back on air, though.
Glad you recharged for the final push. Now, clear eyed and minded and with wind in your sails you can finish the tramp. Many things to replay in the years to come. We do learn as we go along the path of life.
♥️♥️♥️
Kia Ora e hoa…smiling at the thought of you near the finish. Well done!
Whakataka te hau ki te uru
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga
Kia mākinakina ki uta
Kia mātaratara ki tai
E hī ake ana te atakura
He tio, he huka, he hau hū
Tīhei mauri ora!
Cease the winds from the west
Cease the winds from the south
Let the breeze blow over the land
Let the breeze blow over the ocean
Let the red-tipped dawn come with a sharpened air.
A touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day.
Arohanui
Robb
And here was me listening to that very same Max Richter track the other day thinking that ‘real’ (knowledgable, trained, dyed-in-the-wool) classical fans would regard it as an abomination. I’m sure some do but if it helps get you through a couple of days in Otautau then there’s no arguing with it!