back at work

Working during the summertime is not a good thing. I've been back at work for 5 hours and I want out. Perhaps its time to go off the grid and offer my services as a hermit to an isolated small town in need of one? I have a friend who lives in a hut in the forest; he thoroughly enjoys it and has not yet gone looney.
Images of sweet huts from here and here.

but I'm not the only one

We drove right past Dargaville this weekend, with a stop at Mangawhai Heads and a visit to Tane Mahuta. The drive was long and idyllic and we sang along to the radio as we travelled along gravel roads and through Kauri forests to our friend's new home. It was built in the 1960s and is perched in a clearing at the end of a 16k road in the middle of the bush. It has no electricity but has an outdoor bath, a huge wood burning stove, a fresh water river nearby and the most incredible views. He lives alone, but has plenty of visitors. While there we realised how brave he is to live this way, and how much we would love to do something similar, someday...

Kauri image by Josiah Martin cira 19th Century, photo of Managahwai Heads from here.

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.

About two years ago all of my closest friends started moving on with their lives. We all lived in Wellington together and had spent four years in each others' pockets. It was the time where I experimented, adventured, and figured out more about what I wanted.

In hindsight, it really was idyllic. There were issues and irritations, but now I appreciate the ease with which we all congregated and spent so much time together. It seems much more difficult these days.

Then we all up and left. There were plans to fulfil and ambitions to meet, so we left a city that we loved, but had begun to feel too small. Perhaps we spurred each other on; if they were leaving, well, then we had to leave too. For somewhere different, but equally exciting. It was a friend diaspora which scattered us across hemispheres.

We have survived - made new friends and found new places where we feel at home. But I suspect that the friends I found when I was on the cusp of joining the real world are the ones who have the strongest hold, and will be around for the longest.

Next week, a large chunk of us will meet again at a wedding in a forest. We're driving there together from Wellington and will spend the weekend celebrating, camping, "clambering, river damming and swimming". I can't wait.


Photographs of the Rimutaka forest from doc and from panoramio.com