24 Nov - Erin and I cruise the bays to the Marine Education Centre where we volunteer for a few hours. This consists of listening to other volunteers and being just as amazed and intrigued by their knowledge and equally fascinated by these sea creatures as the most inquisitive kiddo here. Leaning over the touch tanks, I try to relay what Eddie has just said about the digestive techniques of a cushion star, but mostly I just place a hermit crab in a young one's hand and exclaim, "Isn't that so cool!" It feels so good to learn!
 |
| The South Island from Island Bay! |
28 Nov
5 Americans, 4 Kiwis, 1 Brit. Happy Thanksgiving! It's a new experience for the latter 5 and a new take on the tradition for the former. We eat until our buttons pop, play games until I'm nearly laughed out, then sit quietly with our gratitude and our food comas. I have so much to be thankful for, and as we take turns acknowledging our good fortunes, all I can muster is, "I am thankful for the the synchronistic pendulum of life that has led me to this moment and all that has occurred to get me here." Or something like that. What? Must be love drunk. 
30 Nov
A few weeks ago I met Liz and Alan when I volunteered for a day with Experiencing Marine Reserves. We took a school group out to assess the health of a nearby stream and to determine the impacts affecting the water quality.
Having recently completed their master's degrees in marine conservation, these two are rockin' the EE vibe hard and have the kind of knowledge to share that young minds could playfully soak up like a sponge on spilled milk. Anyway, it was a great day, and lucky me, EMR is having a volunteer party today!
We feast on pāua burgers, play some flip cup, then throw on the wet suits and kayak to Taputaranga Island. It's a short distance, but it feels like a new and distant land when we arrive and mission it over to some choice diving rocks. After a few refreshing jumps we snorkel around the island and encounter a crevice packed with massive rock lobsters. I could happily float along for hours, admiring the colors and textures and foreign life forms. Alas, it grows dark and a perfect pink sunset accompanies us on the kayak back to shore. A round of roman candles on the beach is the finale to what can only be described as a flawless day.
 |
| Dead Albatross washed up on shore after a big storm |
 |
| Erin all suited up |
1 Dec
Another educational day of volunteering at the Island Bay Marine Education Centre.
4 Dec
Since we've been living in Wellington I don't think Jamie and I have had an entire day off work on the same day. To celebrate this rare occasion, we bike the Rimutaka Rail Trail. Traveling 22k through regenerating bush with amazing views and excellent conversation, we enjoy a lovely picnic, cast a few lines in the Rimutaka River, and generally gush about how wonderful life is.
7 Dec
Spontaneously went 4 Wheeling along Red Rocks to a prime snorkeling destination with Jamie and David. Floated around admiring the sea life, even attempted to do some free diving with a weight belt. I cannot hold my breath for more than a few seconds... David snagged 3 pāua so we made a driftwood beach fire and cooked a mighty mollusk meal, eating the delicious meat straight from the shell while the sun sunk below the horizon.
9 Dec
Went to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Charity Gala Premiere at the Embassy Theatre with Jamie. All proceeded went to Island Bay Marine Education Centre! Everyone from IBMEC was there (Liz, Alan, Jules, Judy, Victor, etc.) and we met Jamaine Clement and the director of Boy, Taika Waititi. Peter Jackson gave IBMEC a special shout out, saying, “We are proud to support The Marine Education Centre, they give so much to this city, we are very happy to be able to give something back." Such a fun night! The bubbles were flowing, the company merry, the people watching divine.
 |
| Me, Liz, Alan & Claudia (IBMEC crew) |
 |
| Jemaine Clement!! |
12 Dec
I'm not as much here to change anything, more just to see how it all works. An observer, and appreciative one. A player, a do-er, a thinker, a sit back and relax and watch it all go down-er. We all serve a purpose, a niche, in a greater polaristic balance. The thief needs its cop. The revolutionist its institution. The atheist its pious devout. The customer its bar keep. It fluctuates, anicca, but the need, the place for an opposite, exists intrinsically. Balance is not the same as symmetry. But I feel like a 3rd party observer. Perfectly content to watch without stepping in too much to enact any major change. It's a ceaseless dance of creation and destruction, and I don't mind standing on the sidelines.
13 Dec
Jojo's cousin, Avina, plays the ukulele in Tomorrow People, a band consisting of 'people' from different ethnicities and background who find common ground in their love for reggae. They bring a sunshine reggae/island breeze feel about their sound, telling stories of good vibrations, celebration, love and peace.
We attend their CD release party at Bar Bodega. Good music, good people, good vibes.
14 Dec
Tomorrow is my dear Mireia's birthday! She and Javi are in town for the weekend so we mission a most excellent and appropriate celebratory picnic at Mt. Vic park. A day of love and merriment in a sentimental field of soft green grass under a warm sun.
15 Dec
Volunteering at Island Bay Marine Education Centre and afterwards the IBMEC Volunteer Christmas Party. Over the past 18 years this centre has grown from a close group of around 5 to a community of over 100 invested volunteers, supporters and staff. Spreading the love for marine biodiversity and conservation to the public. I am so fortunate to have met these people when I did.
20 Dec
The Nudge plays at the San Francisco Bath House.
Amazing psychedelic swampy blues that keep your feet moving all night. I can feel the bass in my chest and it rattles my bones and reverberates through my core.
21 Dec
Adrenaline Forest for Sina's Birthday. 5 levels of arboreal agility courses that have us walking on thin wires, zip lining, rope swinging, etc. up to 26 meters above our steadfast mother earth. Hilarious epic fail (it really wasn't that bad... we just lost the keys to Sina's van and spent a few giggly hours trying to locate them which consisted of ordering a pizza and lying in the grass) of a day which was a good practice in not sweating the small stuff and enjoying life's little quirky challenges.
22 Dec
Massive Samoan barbecue feed at Jojo's with Auntie Trish, Jamie and a few friends. Just returned from diving, we inquisitively study the kina (sea urchin) bounty that Jojo and Ivan have returned with. The sea creature's spikes flail erratically as they are knifed open and harvested for their buttery sweet yellow meat.
We eat, we drink, we are merry.
24 Dec
It is raining. The clouds are doing the no pants dance and are furiously multiplying. The winds rip into the trees like they were made of tissue paper. Oh no! What does this means for Christmas?! Will my dreams of beach lounging be dashed? Will the winds blow the sands to sting the toes and bite the nose? Will my chestnuts have to forego roasting under an open sun? Nay, I feel the Christmas spirit is strong. It knows that bikinis and barbecues will help to make the season bright.
We decorate delicious Christmas cookies and watch The Muppet's Christmas Carol. A Christmas Eve tradition I have not missed since the film's release in 1992. I feel so nostalgic and would love to be home by the fire with my mama and Marli on Baseline road at this moment.
25 Dec
I wake to a cloudless blue sky. It's a Christmas miracle! The birds are chirping, the wind is mild, the sun is beaming its bright yellow grin. Only one thought comes to mind: Christmas on the beach.
We cruise to Scorching Bay early enough to have a wide selection of parking spots. All donning santa hats, we attract photo happy tourists and feel a bit like misidentified celebrities. We frolic into the bay waters, preparing for the icy chill of Antarctic currents, and find that it's only a momentary shock and then becomes quite pleasant.
Secret Santa gifts are exchanged on shore. My needs are more than met. I desire no material possessions. My heart of gratitude is not for what I have, but for who. For the ones sharing these white sands with me now, for the ones bundled up in the white snow back home. For the planned, the random and the synchronistic moments that led me here. For delicious grilled chicken, for bus stop bars, for spontaneous ukulele jams, for short beach naps, for girly promises accompanied by big hugs.
Home for an epic Mexican turkey feast. The backyard becomes our living room and we while away the afternoon lounging in the sun, occasionally cooking, mostly spinning yarns, blowing bubbles, and bursting with hearty laughter. A row of tea lights illuminate our table of plenty. And don't forget the Christmas piñata!!!
Blissed out on appreciation and good spirit.
Ngā mihi nui mō te Kirihimete!
Wishing you a very happy Christmas!
 |
| Santa... Checking his list |
 |
| naughty or nice? |
 |
| Isa injecting the turkey with cider... the secret ingredient! |
Bonus: Some random quotes and photos:
"Even in chaos, there is order, purpose, and strange meaning that invites - but often thwarts - our investigation and our understanding." Odd Thomas - Dean Koontz
“Funny how we think of romance as always involving two, when the romance of solitude can be ever so much more delicious and intense.”
 |
| a lofty view of the city |
 |
| Wellington |
 |
| The Waterfront |
