On a more multidimensional level, whilst we were out and about I have the feeling that we may have assisted with establishing the foundations of what appears to be another Stargate for Aotearoa while being given the impression that the rarely used Peace Park may become a space for future Earthwalk gatherings . . . inshallah!
Next stop was Christchurch but due to the first major earthquake I was diverted, courtesy of Air NZ, to Dunedin. I must offer special thanks to the Air NZ crew who on a full flight managed to find me three seats in a row at the back of the aircraft where I could lay down, something had happened to my back whilst packing and I could hardly walk . . . interesting as my looking back along my journey it has always been my back that has protested just before I took another major step along my path . . .
I thought I was in the South Island to go on walkabout with Leslie Lightfall of Earthsong but soon after arrival realised that it was actually her landlady that I really needed to meet and share time with. I also felt very fortunate to have the time to share space with my extended family on the Edwards side, some of whom I had not seen for many years. It was fun to take the horses out for a ride along the beach with my cousin just like old times when we were kids growing up in the Bay of Islands.
It had been almost 15 yrs since my last journey through Te Wai Ponamu, New Zealand’s South Island. There has been many changes yet the vibration of the land still carries its ancient and ageless wisdom. The harshness of the southern alps, the central plains and wild west coast play an important part of Te Wai Ponamu’s , raw beauty and magnetism . . . I also remember meditating on Clyde dam one day, feeling myself sinking deep into the depths of the earth’s core where I was shown that when the earth really does begin to move that many of the dams will break and when they do it will be like the waters breaking as our new earth begins to birth . . . I guess only time will tell.
Sharing space with Dave and Jo, old friends from Zambia who had recently settled with their family in Central Otago was a wonderful reminder of the beauty and simplicity of rural life in New Zealand, something that I didn’t realise I had been missing from my nomadic existence. A few of the highlights of my stay were; walking along the Clutha river from Alexandra to Clyde, climbing mountain trails with Jo and on my own, talking the girls out on an afternoon picnic, just the three of us, sharing the grape picking with family and friends during harvest time and the tea party afterwards
And my journey would not have been complete without sharing a week on walkabout with Michael who had shared part of my Coromandel journey and who had been the inspiration of this one. We met at my cousin’s place just outside of Christchurch and our first destination was Te Kohanga (Castle Hill), the heart of Te Wai Ponamu. What better place to connect with the spirit of this ancient island? From here we wove our way through the backroads from Lake Tekapo, to Mt Cook, where Michael and a few angels fitted me out with a new set of wings, and then on to Wanaka formally known as Wanaga ‘Place of Learning’.
March and April proved to be a perfect time to visit the south, not too many tourists and still warm enough to hike mountain trails in t-shirts and swim in the southern lakes with magnificent views of the snow-capped peaks in the background. And once my journey was complete I managed to catch one of the last refugee flights back north from Christchurch to Auckland just in time for Easter and my Spiritual Sexual Shamanic Practitioners Training (SSSPT).
