Bay Watch

Near Christchurch in Canterbury I visited two different bay communities.  The first was called Akiroa.  It was first settled by the French.  It is a quiet seaside town with charm and simple beauty.  It is the type of place to get away and I did just that.

I rented a room in a modern beach house and did nothing more than relax, walk around, watched people fish and relaxed.  I needed a vacation from my trip.

My friend from the trip Brian suggested that I go there.  It is interesting that much of my trip was based on talking to people.  I really did not plan much when I was in the US.

At the end of a the pier were here there was an Israeli couple that were engaged.  He caught the smallest fish I had ever seen.  They looked like bait

One thing that is amazing about New Zealand is the birds singing.  They have a variety of unique calls.  These are sounds you do not hear in the states.  Did I also mention the clouds?  We don't have clouds like these either.

The sunsets are spectacular too.

Around the next bay and around an hour of the most windy road one could travel, I found Diamond Harbor.  It is more of a place people live then a tourist destination but quite beautiful.

I attended a spiritual retreat, which was basically a woman's home on a small compound.   I stayed in a quaint guesthouse with out facilities.



 The shower and toilets were in the house. I took part in a Journey, an aneagram reading, ozone sauna, cranial sacral massage, yoga, watched video and did an exercise where you let go of your breath as well as your negative and positive emotions.  The meals were vegetarian and some were very good.  Let's just say the whole thing was up my ally and got a tremendous amount out of it.

We walked around during the day and visited the beach and some friends of the director.  The friend had the most beautiful garden.

She had a French girl there that was a woofer.  There are kids mostly from Europe who go from place to place in New Zealand who work for room and board.  I think it is a bit like slavery, but, oh well!