Wednesday 9th March
Another sleep in, another day of going nowhere, a day to enjoy as tomorrow is meant to be really bad! Got to love what MN is throwing my way at the moment. Let's wait and see if soon I can leave and see some new and beautiful places along this section.
Every night this week before I go to sleep I have imagined in my mind of waking up to no T2! It is not that she is lying on the beach, waves lapping on her sides, she is pulled nearly to the tree tops. If I could have worked out a pully system to lift her up there I would have! I try to reassure myself that she is high and dry, but every time I get up and pull her higher into the trees and scrub. Insane as it is. There also have been extremes of late with very high and low tides continuing today and for the next few days, so my nighty ritual will continue.
My daily chores done as normal I wander up and down the beach, cleaning my teeth, hunting for small pieces of firewood, scavenging for anything washed up on the beach. Nothing exciting today, yesterday evening I found a huge crayfish tail, fresh, but totally empty. My heart did skip a beat but the fish had cleaned out this shell completely. Oh well, I still have Paua to munch my way though.
Wacaco coffee machine out, (these are very cool, portable espresso coffee makers, see video here) fire going well enough for me to heat the water, all set up for another morning of a few messages, how is the weather and what do I need to know about. Then continuous moving of the Goal Zero solar panel to recharge my batteries and InReach unit before the sun disappears behind the 30-50m cliffs behind me. They give me protection from the NW winds, these are supposed to be worsening so I will be glad of them I am sure. Messages done I shut down from the outside world until later, it takes me a little time on the small keypad to write messages, and I am restricted to 160 characters, a bit like the old brick cellphones. A skill I am relearning quickly.
After three firewood missions up and down the beach I am starving so Paua and crispy kumera pieces for breakfast, with a little bit of gravel as well. I am sure I will feel something is wrong with my cooking when I return home, as there will be no grit in it. When I return home... Mother Nature alone knows the answer to this. Nat is forward planning my food drops for me further up the sounds, friends of friends of friends are going out in a boat and can leave a parcel for me. I have accepted but I am hoping to have passed these locations by the time they will get there. But it is good to have something to look forward to, not everyone will be this kind.
I sit on the beach on my big plastic bag, legs crossed writing my blog, watching the sand hoppers jumping all around me. The sandflies come and go, depending on how much breeze comes along. They have decided I am tasty enough to bite though my woollen clothes and jacket, so getting peace from them has become harder. The wind is picking up and I have been told gusts of 60-80 knots are expected. I hope the cliffs will give me enough protection, I have my tent and fly sheet firmly secured so fingers crossed.
No fishermen again today, the weather is bad everywhere. It is now 6pm and the sandflies are insane this evening, so I eat dinner down in the ocean, standing in the cool breeze and wading in the clear blue water. I sat and meditated today, I sat and talked to Mother Nature as well, sort of sent a message of respect to her, and I sure do have a lot of that how. Sitting in my tent after dinner all I can hear are sandflies trying to get in, it sounds like rain on the tent sides! Honestly they do make good fritters. There must be something useful for these insane insects.
Nat is working her magic in and on my website, she is so amazing and on to it. Weather updates and food drops organised further up the coast, I love her work. The other crew have also been sending messages, so have my family and a few friends, thanks to you all. I have taken many videos of Green Islet, I hope to share these with you once Nat has worked some more of her video magic. (did you see the Stewart Island video we made? Worth a watch, here).
My smiles today:
Seeing sunshine, yay, a day outside!
My sandfly repellant, it works.
Fresh, hot water.
Fresh Paua.
Being at peace with being alone.
Meditating, especially as I am usually the one who cannot sit still!
My thoughts today:
Today Nat sent me a quote from the book she is reading, (Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson)
"Excellence is born of preparation, dedication, focus, and tenacity; compromise on any of these and you become average."
Red, T2 and my fire