Earthquake & tsunami in Japan

We arrived home an hour ago after a lovely drive in the countryside, and heard the horrible  news out of Japan. It seems unbelievable that another country on the pacific rim has been hit so hard following the quake in Christchurch.  Those poor people.

And you have probably heard that there are tsunamis that will reach across the south pacific.  We may not see anything more than better surfing conditions where we are, but New Zealand is in a wait and see posture right now, and so are we.  There has not been a tsunami warning given for NZ, but we are in a good position to respond if we need to (yes, now we in Raglan on the west coast of New Zealand, so potentially in the path). 

Please don't worry about us.  We're watching the situation closely, the car is gassed up, and we have plenty of time to move inland. In the unlikely event  there is an evacuation, we will move to Hamilton and either get a room or stay with friends.  We will let you know, but again, don't worry if you don't hear from us right away.  We may be busy, but not in any danger.

As before, please pass along the information to anyone who might be concerned about our safety.  I'm cross-posting this to Facebook, so feel free to share it anywhere you like.

Wahinemoe

We were treated to a great sunset cruise on the Whaingaroa harbour the other evening. Karin is interviewing a local bone carver and artist for her book, and he happens to also be the captain of the Wahine Moe ship. It was a two-hour cruise with lots of history about the area and lots of tourists! We were out to the Raglan Bar at the mouth of the harbour in time to see the sun setting on the Tasman Sea. The crew was very friendly and we had a chat with Dave, a big surfer who has surfed on both the east and west coasts of Canada, including Tofino on Vancouver Island. Tofino is where Karin got her ‘start’ as it were J. Last night, we went for a walk out on Wainamu Beach and could see the ship. The tide was still out so we could walk way out on the sand.

Surprise from old friends

Surprise! Paul and Daphne Moxon simply showed up in town and found Rick on his computer while Jim and I were in the library. Daphne said, “There’s a man with a computer. It must be Rick!” They live about 45 minutes away just out of Ngaruawahia.

We had a lovely day with them, wandering around the shops, going for lunch at the Marlin Café overlooking the water, and then had them over to the house. They put on a booth for various antique fairs so we are off this weekend to Cambridge. They both look terrific, maybe a little white hair! Hard to believe it’s been 32 years since we were on the dairy farm together. Jim fell in love with them right away; he and Daphne got on like they’d known each other forever.

Bridal Veil Falls

A short drive out of Raglan is Bridal Veil Falls, a 55-metre waterfall in the middle of a gorgeous native bush reserve. We walked to the viewpoint at the top, and then all the way down to the base. Then ALL the way back up!

Raglan

We’re all settled in Raglan and love our new place! It’s spacious, comfortable, beautiful native timber hardwood floors, anything we need is already here. Jed and Kay, our landlords, found us in Hamilton to give us a key and let us in early. We've got a standing invite to a bbq at their dairy farm in Otorohanga.

It rained the day after we arrived for a solid 24 hours, so we were a little nervous, but it’s been warm and sunny since. We’ve explored a little, driving out to the nearby surf beaches at Ngarunui and Whale Bay. Our house, within an easy walk to town and with its neighbouring goat, overlooks the inlet and Te Kopua beach. It’s all black sand. We can get some Internet on the steps in front of the library during business hours but not on the weekend.

Travelling: the homily

Here's a little piece we wrote for our kids. For a long time, we have gone to some lengths to make them travellers. They're great people, and if they're like us, travel is the single most expansive thing we can offer. They know this. Travel has been a gift we have given on big occasions, and travel is one of the things we share when we gather as a family. But, of course, parents have to hammer these ideas home. We recently wrote to our kids to tell them about our travels in a special way. We think you might enjoy eavesdropping on the "conversation", so here it is:

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Okay, fasten your belt for a little bit of Dad & Karin's philosophy. Trying to pass this along because we think it matters.

As you know, we travel, and we've tried to pass our passion along to you for travel. Your graduation gifts weren't accidents, you know. And you have responded. My goodness, you have travelled! Even given your considerable challenges, Erin, you guys have too (having a young family and travel are the definition of anathema).

So, here's what we wanted to mention: a simple but profound lesson. Travel isn't about going places. It's about connecting. It's meeting people who live there and getting to understand their culture. It's:

knowing where to get a free newspaper,
expecting to see the sunrise out your back window when you get up to pee at 5:00 am,
finding the best fish 'n' chips (it's a noble quest -- our vote is the Great Wall in Dunedin),
attending (and enjoying) a local Agriculture and Pastoral show--no, two,
finding a favourite pub for happy hour and going there four times,
discovering a farmer's market and buying something you'd never thought you'd eat,
re-wiring a fuse when you don't know how fuses work in that country,
experimenting with meat pies and hating them,
hiking in places often enough that they look familiar,
weeping when a place you deeply love is crushed by an earthquake,
sheep -- sweet Jesus -- thousands of pictures of sheep,
being away when bad things happen to people you love,
finding a barber and going to him more than once, even though he's not that great,
having dinner with a nun, a Ukrainian, and a sheep shearer ( I know that joke too),
finding a place where only people who live there can find,
accepting that local theatres actually assign seats for movies when you're the only ones in the theatre,
tearing up when you leave new and renewed friends to go somewhere else,
inviting dozens of people to visit you, and hoping they really do,
leaving a part of your soul in the place you've lived,
and licorice. It's always about licorice.

All we are saying is that travelling is different from vacationing. It really is. It is a different way of thinking. And it is way more rewarding, and it takes time. We know you don't have a lot of opportunities right now in your lives for this. But we want to (re)plant the seed. Look for the opportunities, and when you find them, jump at the chance. It will make all the difference.

Here endeth the homily.

Love,
Dad and Karin

In Hamilton, about to go off grid

We think we'll have some sort of dodgy connection in Raglan, but we won't know until we get settled in. We are in Hamilton and the Motel 6 is lovely! After a spectacular last sunrise in Dunedin, we had a last minute errand; Karin won a prize for completing a servey and we ened up stopping at the Art Gallery to pick up a Big. Heavy. Hard Cover. Art Book as a prize. Our flight leaving Dunners was late so they didn't think we'd make the Chch connection, but we ran and made it. We didn't fly over the city, so we didn't see much of the destruction but there was a lake that was brown that shouldn't have been. Glen Moxon (in the Gold Coast shirt) met us at the airport in Hamilton (he was one half of the 8-year-old twins when I was on the dairy farm). We haven't seen him since 1999, but we picked up as if we hadn't talked since last week. Went back to Glen and Donna's place in Horotiu and met 6-year-old Dean and new baby Kayla, born on the day of the earthquake. Donna is the only one of the Moxon clan Jim has met before. It is warm here, so we spent a good afternoon at the Hamilton Gardens. It was a surprise when Kay and Jed, our Raglan landlords, showed up with our key. They said we can get in to the place a day early–and also invited us to a barbie at their dairy farm in Otorohanga– so we are off tomorrow for Raglan.