Change In Plans

HAPPY KID IN A JET BOAT

Greetings from Russell, New Zealand!

This is one of the most beautiful parts of an overall incredibly beautiful country.  We have had a very relaxing few days here.

On Tuesday morning we chartered a boat, called the Sea Eagle, and went sailing from Whangaroa.  The Maori place names here, like Whangaroa, are frequently fun to say.  “When you get to Kawakawa, take the State Highway north toward Pakaraka.  If you see signs for Urupukapuka, you have gone the wrong way.”

ABOARD THE SEA EAGLE

The Sea Eagle is a 15-meter steel-hulled sailboat.  It has been well loved, but seemed extremely seaworthy.  The skipper, Paul, once lived on it for five years.  He has sailed the Sea Eagle to Fiji several times, and to Tonga twice.  These places are impossibly far away from New Zealand.

Paul was an interesting character.  He is in his late 50s, and has been a professional bass guitarist (loves the Red Hot Chili Peppers), a restaurant chef, an aerobatics pilot, a competitive sky diver, and a marine-winch salesman.  He and his partner moved up to Whangaroa because Russell (population 500) got too crazy for them.  Mostly now he gardens, takes groups on his sail boat, and chills out.

Paul was an excellent sailor and good company, although India and I sensed we should steer clear of politics.  In passing, he mentioned that “we” should nuke Fiji and Somalia, and that New Zealand had to be prepared to fend off hordes of poor Indian immigrants when “the days of anarchy come.”  OK.

The sailing was almost perfect: sunny skies, gentle and steady breeze, flat waters.  We sailed out of Whangaroa Bay, around Stephenson Island, and back into port.  Zola and I got to steer most of the time.  The four-hour duration was perfect for India.

 On Wednesday, we indulged in an activity which was extremely rare in our year of travel: we hung out at the house and did basically nothing.  Zola completed a double dose of on-line math.  India and I each went for a run.  We sat by the pool and shivered (New Zealand is unambiguously colder thn we expected).  The kids watched cartoons.  We talked.  We admired the view of the bay and the islands.

Overall, it was like having a very relaxing day on vacation in a beautiful place.  Hmmmm.

Since I got back from Switzerland, and we have been in the last two weeks of the trip, our family dynamic has subtly shifted from “open-ended travelers” to “vacationers.”  I have not been as obsessive about keeping in touch, and not so worried about dwindling into irrelevance.  We have started making social plans back in New York.  Our peripatetic “new normal” of the last several months is coming to an end.

Today, our last day, we shifted back into high activity gear.  We toured the Russell Museum, and went for a short (but unbelievably scenic) hike to Tapeka Point.  We are going on a long jet-boat ride later, and Zola and I have reserved mountain bikes for the late afternoon.  This evening, Eagles Nest is sending a chef to our villa to cook us a final dinner.

Ultimately, we are still in denial about the trip coming to an end.  Maybe that is because we are not yet sure what the future holds for us.  We will continue to talk and plan on the 300-hundred hour trip back to New York.