Adventures of the shorty making someday dreams the life she wakes up to every day.
Words
3 DAYS IN THE WHIRINAKI
I’ve always believed that the most beautiful parts of a forest are never near a road end and I’m yet to be proven wrong. Recently, I attempted Te Pua-a-Tāne Circuit, an 80km, five-day hike that traverses around the park, where hikers experience the full range of this prehistoric forest. Beautiful forest, but crickey, she was a tough one!
Arohaki Lagoon
Liz and I are really into photography and stopped often to capture the beautiful light shining through the trees. We had the track to ourselves that day as most people usually walk the waterfall loop - the only sound louder than our chit-chat was the occasional kākā or tūi flying through the canopy…
NEW: SH35 East Coast summer road trip 2025
The tall fella and I had been talking about doing the SH35 East Coast road trip ever since we first started dating. He was working in retail then and wanted to do it in two days, but that meant we would spend most of the time in the car. What’s the point in that? No thanks. We compromised and made it three days, spending two nights in Te Puia Springs.
From our home in Edgecumbe, it’s just under three hours’ drive to Gisborne via the Waioeka Gorge. Over the three days we clocked about 700km to do the SH35 loop, stopping in Gisborne, Tatapouri, Tolaga Bay, Tokomaru Bay, Te Puia Springs, Waipiro Bay, Tikitiki, Te Araroa, Hicks Bay, Raukokore and Te Kaha.
Spoken word at Tedx Ōmokoroa 2024
Seven years ago, I collided with poetry during a time of emotional chaos. It held my hand through the many tastes of love and allowed me to embrace a metamorphosis unplanned, yet necessary. Spoken word is about being in the moment, for every performance is unique. Yet, it’s the conversations afterwards, that’s where the magic happens.
New: Embrace the middle - when the familiar becomes unfamiliar at the same time
If I was writing this five years ago, it’s about now that I would do a philosophical deep dive into how embracing change…well, changed my life. Not today. Today, I’m having an identity crisis. Kinda.
Life feels like I’m in the middle of a long, slog-of-a-hike lately. I’m still walking in the right direction, but somehow, I keep losing the track markers. I stop, backtrack and walk around, and eventually find footprints or the track hidden in the overgrowth. When I’m in the bush, losing the track doesn’t worry me too much - I’ve been here before and don’t stay ‘lost’ for too long. So, why is life so uncomfortable right now?
