28 January 2011
170 Km – A Semi-Long Day in Lucy
There is an emu in my present moment. Three of them, actually. I take note of this as I’m being lectured by Gina on staying in the Now. I’d be more okay with this if the Now wasn’t another dumpy kitchen block arrived at after a relatively long, hot day in the car. But I don’t think that’s quite getting the whole gist of being in the Now. I’m sure there’s something in there to do with accepting both the good and the bad. And really, the good is that we’re not staring at computer screens surrounded by grey cubicle walls here in this Now, so I best get over it and enjoy my view of the emus.
The emus are in my Now as we have camped at a motor park/animal farm in Murchison, our chosen stop on the road about halfway between Punakaiki and Marahau, on the edge of Abel Tasman National Park. The road trip here was both pleasant and stressful, the latter primarily because when we’re driving, we keep forgetting to stay in the Now – the Now of us being in a van and not on our bicycles – and instead continue to groan and gasp as the roads narrow and twist, shoulderless and chock’o’block full of blind corners and big rigs, us repeating over and over again how petrified we’d be for our lives were we still on our bicycles. I tell you, it’s a miracle we made it as far down the road as we did. But that was Then, this is Now.
The pleasant part was, as usual, the scenery. The coastline north of Punakaiki continued in its tropical and quiet vein. To break up the drive, we stopped at Cape Foulwind, where we hiked the Cape Foulwind Walkaway, a short 4-km (return) trail along the coast. Fantastic trail, wonderful views, and a seal colony complete with pups at the end. Very enjoyable. From there we motored back inland, following the Buller River gorge, once again noting that we could be somewhere in Washington State, the scenery being so similar. Pretty remarkable given that a few hours earlier, we felt as though we could have been in Hawaii. New Zealand continues to amaze.
As for the emus, well, our home for tonight – our home for the Now – has them as well as about half a dozen chickens, at least a dozen ducks, a flock of sheep, and a lone deer. We could pay $1 to feed them some pellets, but I think I’ll save my dollar for the shower. Here in the Now, I could use one.
