Audacious Freedom Live anywhere. Travel everywhere.

Sometimes on a cold, wet and windy winter’s day it is good to be reminded of summer’s warmth and colour. Every spring, to celebrate the warming weather, the Wellington Botanical garden plants tulips of every shape, size and colour. The garden’s beauty causes the rushed to slow down, the stressed to take a deep breath and those feeling low to have their spirits lifted. The aroma and colours flood the senses, requiring the spectator to yield to its charm.

For some reason the blooming tulips bring out a playful side to people. While I was there I watched adults and children alike, lying on the ground next to the tulips, sitting in the middle of flower beds, twirl around and skip. There was one couple (in their late 50′s)  that “oo’ed and ah’ed ” and then fell on the grass laughing. Those of us watching their pure delight couldn’t stop the belly laughter from rumbling out of us. It is in moments like those where there is total abandonment and pure enjoyment that healing, freshness and energy fills the body. It makes life seem special, exciting and an adventure worth having.

Tons and tons of ice moving, creaking, melting, changing. Franz Joseph glacier facinated me. The ice that I could see was old, stretching like a cats paw into the temperate forest. The information board showed how men in top hats and women in long dresses were rowed around the ice bergs to see the glacier. I was now standing in T-shirt and shorts in the same spot that photo was taken.  A women who visited the glacier in 1972 said the glacier had receded so far back that it could only be seen from the air. Yet I could look straight into its mouth and watch it spitting out old melted ice.

How things change! And how disconterting that change can be. What was, isn’t anymore; and what is, will change again.

Taking my camera for a walk while staying in Castle Point, New Zealand (on what turned out to be a great photography weekend) I came across this campsite. At first I didn’t think anything of it and was just about to skirt around when the ‘No Camping’ sign caught my eye. I wonder if the camper could have got any closer to the sign? Did the person not see it – or did they just not care? This raised an interesting question for me – what are our responsiblities towards our enviroment, especially as travellers in a host country? This campsite wasa innocent enough – they were two travellers following the surf and having a great time without annoying anybody.

But just a little way away, there was a sign ‘Do not fish from this rock’. In the name of fun and the hope of not going hungry we (four guys and three ladies) climbed onto the rock to fish. The ladies sat in a cozy group enjoying the sun and chatting. Mean while the guys were getting into the ‘fishing zone’. A wave came up, suddenly and aggressively. Grabbing on for life, we watched the wave wash the fishing box and tackle into the sea. Thankfully, no one was hurt but it was close.  It was a scary lesson!