OUTDOOR BLISS - Musings of an Overthinker

9/5/2022

get those shoes off

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How many of you recall roaming the countryside barefoot, rain or shine. For those of you who were not allowed to. It is never too late.

Wrap up warm and put that raincoat on and feel the earth under your feet and between your toes.

Call it a free massage or a form of reflexology

Releasing your inner child
Korero with Papatuanuku
Feel your worries and stresses fall away (assuming you aren't squeamish or cold).
Reduces inflammation
Improves sleep
Improves blood flow and the list goes on.

I can testify that it feels great and those who have joined me have all confirmed that.
Sadly, the best time to walk on fields of grass is winter because in summer there is an abundance of prickles and that's a form of acupuncture lol.

Having said that. There are still places we can go in summer immersed in native bush.
The worried look on my face is not the feet in mud. Its my technical skills. We are not all gifted in all things.

How long depends on you personally.

9/5/2022

Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au

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Saying "I love you" to the water you drink is a good place to start the journey of healing for both ourselves and our environments.

Knowing that we are mainly water and that water is life.

We are a part of our environment and not separate from.

The moon has influence on water.

Water can move mountains and carve rocks.

Scientific research has found that water responds to the energy we give it.

They say that water has memory and the water in you has a life time of memories of places and people and emotions.

There are many indigenous beliefs that the harm we do to Papatuanuku represents the harm to ourselves and others.

Wairua means ‘two waters’ . In Te Ao Maori (Maori worldview) all living things have wairua or two waters of energy. Waiora which is pure divine energy from the source and Waituhi which is the memory water stores of everything we have done both good and bad.

We can cry rivers of joy and sadness.

Start loving your water/yourself.

Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au
I am the river, the river is me.

8/5/2022

The end of this chapter

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I fell in love with the West Coast on a family trip as a kid.   Sullen photos in the family album might beg to differ 🙂 but it's so uncool hanging with family when you're 13. Ok so moody 13 year old lol.   Coming back I can see why I did. Credit to my parents. Railings did not exist in places like Punakaiki. I was a nervous wreck just imagining us as kids running around the place.

Enroute, I spent a weekend in Duntroon with others living in a 'Kea' motorhome. Interesting observation. Automatically, everyone formed a horseshoe as a response to coming together as a community.   The circle is timeless with a neutral shared space in the middle.    Normally parking is done in rows like a carpark.

I confess to driving a bit fast on a self-imposed time limit and motivated by the borders opening soon and rising fuel costs.

Decision making can be hard enough at the best of times with no one to bounce ideas off.    I'd ask my ancestors but they have a wicked sense of humor with a dash of sarcasm so I'm very careful what I ask for. Therefore, I frequently consult the magic 8 ball and get a second opinion from the coin 😁.

Poor Nala. On those occasions when she can't come with me I leave 2 fans going, bowl of water, vents open, a cooling pad and something to chew. Imagine if I loved her.

Highlights. Guided tour in the Limestone Caves at Oparara. The guide started the tour by saying that all birds are Robins and all plants are Coprosma but then proceeded to name all the plants by their Mᾱori name, common name and Latin name including the whakapapa/genealogy. The challenge is to try to retain as much of that as I can or at least exceed 10% retention. Magical.

Watching approximately 100 blue penguins coming ashore in Oamaru. No photos permitted so as not to disturb their natural behaviours.

Some words to ponder that were shared with me. “I like walking along the edge of the waves because I feel like I'm walking in two worlds at the same time"

Revisited some childhood places thanks to the affordability of railway cottages and a time before they were tourism hot spots. On a walk up Conical Hill in Hanmer I gratefully accepted a stick from the barrel gifted by the Men's Shed. I passed lots of local people on their phone up and down the hill. I wanted to play Rafiki from the Lion King but I resisted 😁.

The friends and people I have met.

Seeing the conservation efforts being made to preserve the indigenous flora and fauna.

Ended my journey with whanau. Spent a few days offline in Kaikoura by the coast in a remote spot.

The path to the beach was twisted and bumpy and overgrown with grass. After a night of rain Mum said it would be too wet and challenging.   I accepted that but without a word my brother was seen clearing the track of the grass (not natives).

Parked up at Waiharekeke/Blenheim racecourse. I once got paid to get the race results from the two commentators in the grandstand after each horse race where I then biked like crazy through the golf course and across town to deliver to the post office so it could be wired out to all the TABs.   IM NOT THAT OLD.

I went to cut through the same golf course but didn't fancy dodging abuse or balls. Saw a couple heading towards me wheeling golf bags. They kindly escorted me across the green in exchange for my riveting conversation 😁😁😇.

After two and a half months I returned home to Te Ika a Mᾱui/North Island. Ironically, a week after I return there is a meeting of motorhomes in the suburb I left in Dec

Nala and I no longer collect rocsk. Instead grains of potential rocks... sand I mean sand.

8/5/2022

Gift from a bird

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Bittersweet posting stories when there's unrest abroad (Ukraine/Russia). Blissfully unaware of most things in the news but that gets through.

To share some highlights and hopefully inspire one person to hold the vision of their dreams as others have done me. This is one of those bigger ones that supersede the day to day goals but know they can happen.

I'm glad I couldn't go before now because on one tour there were typically 800 visitors to the glowworm caves PER DAY. Only 20 on my trip and two trips a day scheduled. A double fuel tanker used to travel to Piopiotahi/Milford Sound twice a day and now does the trip once A MONTH. While I feel for the economy, it's got to be good for the environment and locals like me and you. The tour guide said it had got to the point where tourists from overseas flew in to Queenstown and did Fiordland Tours, often asleep on bus and boat.

In Tuatapere a woman at a local café kindly gave me a dollop of 15+ Manuka honey for my foot. Glad she said foot because you normally get sauce with a sausage roll.

Combine an indecisive person and Doubtful Sound and you get clarity. I'm sure there's some basic science in there. Doubtful Sound.. I've heard is magical in the rain but Tāwhirimātea chose wind and I was not going inside. The rules around Covid in the current climate with Omricon starting to creep its way down the country meant that wearing a mask outside the boat as well as inside was compulsory. The downside was that many masks ended up in the water due to the wind hence the hood of the raincoat to prevent mine from escaping my face.

I visited the takahē and Kākāriki in Te Anau. A Kākāriki sat listening attentively while I said a couple of karakia to it. When I had finished they picked up a leaf and put it on the the ledge on my side. Three possible reasons 1. I'm paying you to stop, 2. Thank you or 3. The sign said don't feed the birds and they were trying to show me how it's done.

YES I have kept that leaf.

8/5/2022

it takes a village to raise a heather

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It takes a whole village to raise a Heather and I just revisited a special village Aunt from my childhood. We don't need more therapists in our village. We already have lots living amongst us. Spent a healing magical week there. Was also nursing a wound on the fleshy part of foot for a month. I dislike wearing shoes and so I hadn't been giving it time to heal.

Turns out I didn't need a tetanus shot, antibiotics or professional help (subjective I know). Just a couple of caring village Aunts.

A friend of theirs dropped some cream off which was very poignant (pic attached).

Once foot felt better we went back into the Catlins for the day. I don't think I can stand on the Petrified Forest often enough.

I decided to go for a drive solo one day with no Google maps and ended up in Bluff. On a sunny day I sat and chatted to an 83 year old woman called Noelene for an hour. A young man asked if we knew where the famous signpost was. Typical, I didn't even know it was metres from me and I was parked facing it.

Enroute to Fiordland I parked up at Monkey Island Beach and finally caught up with a seasoned traveler who has been living on the road for four years now.

What saddens me the most is the vast amount of farmland everywhere I go and lack of Native forests.

8/5/2022

OmG there's no wifi

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Omgosh there's no wifi 😟... sharp inhale and plan to move on... Omgosh there's no wifi... slow relieved exhale and stays longer 🙂

Arrived in the Catlins where wifi is sketchy. Really really do need to buy that plb.(personal locator beacon). No cell and its very humbling to think that if something happened to me. No one knows where I am.

If you see a middle aged woman appearing to cackle to herself on the road. That's me listening to Google maps. Definitely needs a lesson in Te Reo. I think she has a wicked sense of humor. Instead of going around the mountain she takes me straight up and over. Tight steep 85° angled roads that are windy and about 1000m above sea level. The last one had signs telling trucks to use air brakes.

What's for dinner tonight.. tossed salad again 🙂.

My whanau/family in the north who know I don't listen to the news warned me of forecast wind and rain so I hunkered down in a DOC (Department of Conservation) campground in Papatowai. Heard a few strong gusts in the night but felt nothing.

A fellow camper offered some biscuits she had made. She couldn't believe it when I knew they were called snickerdoodles. Mum made them all the time.

Highlights. Visiting the Albatross Colony and the Dunedin peninsula in general. Although driving up and over the hill into Dunedin with poor visibility in the dark was challenging. I couldn’t pull over because I couldn’t see to get back onto the road so the traffic had to crawl behind this otherwise courteous camper for a few kilometres.

Finally reaching the Petrified forests in the Catlins and standing barefeet.

Those catchups with people that really shouldn't be as long as they are between visits.

The people I've met who have become friends.

Got a hug on the street in Kaikoura.

I used to collect rocks everywhere I went and like my companion, so too does my dog. Through my studies I learnt that rocks have 'mauri' which means life force or essence in Mᾱori to put it simply. This belief is common to all indigenous people of the world despite the terminology being different the essence is the same. Now I pick up a stone or rock, have a thought (I'm an overthinker so unlikely I will have just one) or ask a question and before I leave thank the stone or rock and leave it behind. I give myself the same instruction as I do my dog. 'Drop it" and 'Walk on" lol.

8/5/2022

Somebody's watching me

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My precious dog kept everyone awake at night except for me while our home was being repaired.

She ran around the house whenever I moved so she could see me (in photo she has found steps so I can be watched from kitchen window). At night she whined because she couldn't see me so I decided to sleep on the deck the following night. Enjoyed it so much I spent the next three nights on the deck.

Once repaired my adventures recommenced as I headed once more down the East Coast of Te Waipounamu/South Island only this time I now have my copilot and all my belongings.

My first night back on the road was in a park that can accommodate 100 motorhomes 😬 and here's me avoiding crowds. I have no doubt that there is a solution to the housing crisis and the opportunity to make living with limited resources a part of education.

8/5/2022

I confess....I talk shit!!!

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I confess... I talk shit!!

Parked up with my rear facing the coast and the road. I observed many fellow campers walking past regularly throughout the day and evening....

I ass-umed there must be a Cafe, restaurant, fish n chip place or walk up the road worth a visit.

In the morning I asked a neighbour. Where is everyone going? .. .. A PUBLIC TOILET ! was the point of interest.

All my networking so far has been at the dump stations and apart from Where did you come from, where are you going ( are you singing). You guessed it, we talk about .....

My favourite dump station is at Tahunanui Beach and is situated right next to the McDonald's drive through literally. I arrived right on lunchtime in the height of summer. I must confess I did stand there for far too long deciding whether I should put them off their lunch .

I have 95litre of water to use. Couldn't figure out why I was needing to refill it regularly but no waste water coming out... then I clicked... I'm regularly emptying toilet cassette.. I'm filtering my own water.

To all those of you I've caught up with... my talking shit is the opinion of the listener . I am prone to embellishing stories a wee (pun intended) bit.
I'll see you at a dump station near you .

8/5/2022

Woohoo! Beach front property

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Beachfront property!! Woohoo.

Feeling taukumekume this week. A little lost despite the freedom. Traveling with a dog has its blessings and challenges. I don't enjoy crowded places so found I kept wanting to move on from the summer hotspots. Hanging about the top of Te Waipounamu/South Island while waiting to book my motorhome in for repair and knowing that I need a place to kip for me and the dog.

Life's ironies. A place called Ngahere meaning bush or forests is a sawmill yard. Just one of many.

Highlights: Hands up the driveways I visited with lots of love, hugs and laughter. Catching up on too many years that had elapsed. Making it the year I don't just say "let's catch up for coffee sometime".

Traveling from Middle Earth (Lord of The Rings, Rivendell, Kaitoke) to the centre of Aotearoa.

Waiting for insurance to contact me while they were waiting for me 🤔🙃.

Needing to just stop and ground myself I pulled up at Kina Beach. While I was pulled over on roadside checking the map another motorhome must have past me and got the last park on the beach front.

Fortune favors the indecisive. It turns out that my spot got TV reception apparently but the beach front park didn't. Woohoo. Swap.

8/5/2022

My life on wheels begins

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My journey began in Rangiora in Te Waipounamu/South Island of Aotearoa in the height of summer with only a small backpack full of clothes. The country was preparing for an Omicron wave when I took off and the Roads were unusually quiet since the international borders had closed a couple of years ago. The only travellers on the road were locals or trapped foreigners.

Feeling excitedly overwhelmed I headed South with my head buzzing with all the new information I needed to absorb such as driving the vehicle itself, the overnight parks permitted and the exterior and interior workings of my new home and the new codes of conduct and etiquette.

If you ever see a motorhome on the side of the road with a yellow cloth on the wing mirror that’s an indication they are needing assistance.   Green on the dashboard means they are single. Truckers call us the white maggots and it takes four months to get from Kaikoura to Christchurch not two hours.

I learned very quickly that small towns welcomed motorhomers because the money they don’t spend in accommodation they spend in small town economies.

While driving through the Haast Pass I heard a crash. Eventually I was able to pull over. The coffee grinds had spilt so I moped the floor with my tears... yeah right. It was moccona... 30 minute rule applies.

I found a freedom camp and looked dubiously down the steep gravel entrance knowing I have a front wheel drive. A man and his dogs emerged and assured me it would be fine. I got to the bottom and there were few homes down there and no cell reception, so I decided to leave. That gut feeling I had, proved to be right as I skidded twice in my attempt to exit. Reversing to the bottom for the second time I changed gears to manual and despite some wheel spins I made it out with heart pounding.

I confess though that as I drove through the Haast Pass on the West Coast side I burst into tears at the untouched beauty of the place that I remembered as a child.   There is no cell coverage in much of the West Coast and it is quite an experience to think that no one knows where you are. I went for a small bush walk and realized that I could vanish and not a soul knew I was here.

There are a few driveways on my bucket list to pull up in. I managed to visit a friend in Hokitika twice. I've since heard she's moving but she won't say where :)

I had plans to make my home stand out. However, a deep gash was not one of the designs on the drawing board. It was the corner of my brother's house that beat me. I'm gutted I gutted his gutter.

Author

Kia Ora, my name is Heather and I have always been an overthinker. Being an extrovert often means those thoughts flow down my hands onto the keyboard or out my mouth. I love the meme I once saw that said something to the effect "I don't like to think before I speak. I like to be just as surprised as everyone else about what comes out of my mouth" ~ The mind Journal. This can often mislead people to thinking I am a worrier but often once said it is gone. It was a passing thought. That does not mean I am not without worry. That's the angst of an indecisive overthinker of which I am.

I have always felt that the way to heal is through our connection with nature.

This blog is a journey inside the mind of an overthinker.

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