It is over a month since I was in Tokaanu, subject of the last entry, and this is our sixth week living back in Hamilton city in our lovely new rented home. Quite a lot of time has elapsed since I last wrote.
Weekends in July have seen us visiting Auckland twice, revisiting Kawhia on the west coast, and having our first vist to the west side of the Coramandel peninsula. We are getting to know more of the musical life in Hamilton and have enjoyed good concerts in Auckland by the Auckland Chamber Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. I have established a link with yoga teachers in Auckland, got increasingly involved in gardening , have almost finished knitting the back of a sweater, and enjoyed cooking in this delightful kitchen, which has clearly been home to some enthusiastic cooks.
Throughout my life I have been blessed with good neighbours, and this is no exception. We feel welcomed, accepted, and at ease. Although this is a rented house, it has a strong feeling of being a home, and there is a sense that some real home-makers have lived here in the past. And to make it feel even more like home, we are expecting our first visitors in the next month. Brother Derek arrives in just two weeks for his New Zealand holiday, and then in early September daughter Lucy is ‘hopping over’ from California, whilst Jeff and the children spend time with his folks, so that she (and Derek) can be here to help celebrate my sixtieth birthday with us. What joy!
We shall be spending the birthday weekend on the Coramandel peninsula, where we were just over a week ago. We have found accomodation in a beautiful location on the Wilson Bay estuary just south of Coramandel Town. A stunning retreat centre, Mana, known by some as the ‘Hilton’ of retreat centres in NZ, has a yoga retreat that weekend, along with massage therapies in or out of hot pools, which Lucy and I will enjoy. Derek and Rupert will be able to walk in the bush, climb up the mountain, take to the sea in boats, or simply chill out; then on the Monday we move down the coast to the Rapaura Water Gardens, where we are staying in a delightful private house within the gardens, and having dinner cooked for us in the evening. Am I a lucky girl, or am I a lucky girl?
We were staying at Mana at the end of July, but took few pictures. The weather was unbelievably sunny and balmy for winter, and it all looked so beautiful, that I just could not imagine that any pictures would have done it justice. Rupert was walking, and I was exploring something called 5Rhythm Dance. The latter was intriguing and quite liberating and made me realise how helpful a strong rhythmic pulse can be in freeing the physical body of unwanted tensions. By Sunday I was ready for quieter sounds, so we walked in the bush and indulged in some tree hugging.
As you see, Kauris can grow a bit too large for a comfortable hug!.
It is hard to go very far without being aware of trees. These were spotted at Kawhia, on a beautiful winter’s evening
and this one was by the pavement in the St. Heliers coastal suburb of Auckland.
We still have much to learn about Auckland. Here are just a few images from a recent visit:
