Whop whop!

Since I'm already on the topic of reminiscing, here are some of my favourite childhood memories, mainly to do with the kick ass place South Head where I grew up.

The orchard

• collecting cicada shells and "leaf water" while mum worked
• being chief tractor driver for the persimmon pickers (and thinking I was SO good at it)
• eating fruit straight from the tree, mmm apples warmed by the sun
• sneaking biscuits from the smoko shed
• jumping into the pits up at the maori pa
• mountain biking around all the different rows and tracks

The lake

• winding up the windows on the way there so we were as hot as possible before our swim
• making tracks through the reeds with our boogie boards
• Honeymoon Bay - and the epic walk it took to get there
• Being big enough to swim across to "the other side"
• sinking peoples dingys
• skimming mussels across the water (and always wishing I could do more skims)
• getting there and always finding one of your friends already there to splish and splash with
  
• the night Mum, Nico & I got stuck halfway round and Dad rowed out in the dark to find us

Jana's house

• getting to eat meat
• getting to watch tv
• getting to play with their pets

Ah yes, those days hold many of my fondest memories alright. I am just so fucking glad my parents chose to live in the whop whops and deprive us of television, packaged food, fizzy drinks (apart from our special Friday night lemonade), the latest gimmicks and "cool" clothes. I can honestly say, that as a result of living where we did and "depriving" us of those things, it has helped shaped me both physically and mentally, into a much better person today.

I just hope that when it comes to me having kids I can show the same patience and strength as what they did while we were complaining about how *unfair* it was not being able to watch tv, eat chips & lollies, drink fanta, own chatter rings and wear tearaway pants.

Yeeha Piha

Piha - oh how I love that place.

Ahh yes, all those fond memories I have of summers staying out there at the Joyce's bach (or more like house nowadays). A night spent there over the weekend reminded me of what, in my eyes, are the contributors to its awesomeness...

Like... getting the "first sight of the sea"; the smell of the burning rubber of car brakes while making the decent of the everlasting hill to the beach; the smell (not to mention taste) of the hot chips from the Piha shop; Lion Rock's enormity; the clean fresh air that instantly makes you feel alive; the prickle of sand against your skin as it's hurled along the beach by the forever present wind; the crashing sound of what always seems to be messy surf; a crowd of people gathered around someone injured on the beach; the delicious home made doughnuts from the Piha store on a Sunday morning; bonding time while having to do the dishes by hand; the fine black sand and how it manages to get in places you didn't know you had; being able to laze about reading, chatting and eating and not feeling guilty for doing so; the peacefulness; and the surfers always crouched in the dunes pointing and squinting out to sea.

A definite must for me will be to make sure I spend more time out there before heading off. It will undoubtedly be one of the places that I'll miss the most while overseas.

Mass Migration

I cannot get over the amount of people I know who are leaving the green pastures of little old New Zealand to explore the rest of the world. Not that I am blaming them as I am about to do the same thing, but it continues to astound me the sheer number of friends that have just left or are just about to head off overseas. The current count is up to about 10 people having left in the last few months and almost the same amount who plan to head off in the next 6 months or so. It makes it even more exciting for me though, as I am able to swap notes and get excited with them rather than feeling guilty when I talk about my plans with people who are sticking around here.

The thing that surprises me even more though is when people have no interest in travel at all. How could you not want to get out there and see what else the world has to offer?! I know NZ is a beautiful place and it will be the place that I will always think of as home no matter where I end up later on in life, but is it not important to get out there and experience other places just to make us appreciate what we have here that much more?

So putting my guilty feelings aside for a moment, my plan is to leave NZ on the 31st of January and go stay with family in Melbourne for four days. Next stop - Bangkok, arriving on the 4th of February at which point I will meet up with Jessie and we will spend three weeks together taking in the sights (and smells) before she heads back home. I will then be flying solo for the last week in Thailand before flying to London on the 3rd of March. I'll doss down there for 9 days before reaching my final stop (temporarily at least) in Edinburgh to stay with brother Nico and his girlfriend Kelly. The plan is to then camp out at their place in Haddington until I sort out what I'm going to do with myself which at this stage is to head back to London and get a job. Phewee! The scary thing is, it is less than five months away.. and my savings account is looking very, very sad. So, time to get my ass into gear and start saving my pennies!! Any donations will be welcomely received...