Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
boat, and collect Opipi shells to use as bait for these lovely silver fish. I could always haul
out one of them, using this bait.
When I'd had enough of artwork and inner reflections of my soul, I would row ashore and
either visit the town or take in her people and her sights. I befriended some of the live-
aboards and would visit them in their boats. As you may have guessed, I was continually
on the lookout for any women that may have been interested in taking a chance with a trav-
eling sailor.
One Sunday morning I awoke and wanted to just get away from boats for a while. I longed
for something different. I had been living on my boat for too long without a break, and I
needed to go somewhere away from the water. I packed a simple lunch, took my sketch
book and pencils, a bottle of water, and an apple, and donned my hiking boots and a warm
pullover. It was a sunny day, but the weather could change very suddenly here. I had been
presented with a little newspaper folding of local cannabis from a sailor friend and included
it in my backpack, along with a box of matches.
I had certainly indulged in a bit of the herb when I was a teenager in Johannesburg, but
I cannot recall having ever done it again since then. What made me accept the token gift
from the sailor, I do not know. Perhaps I thought that while I was soul searching on this
trip, it would help me submerge into the murky depths of my mind, such as it was. I don't
know, nor do I offer any apologies for it. I had had to lead a very straight and disciplined
lifestyle in order to pull this demanding challenge of solo sailing off, and I really needed
to unwind.
Off I went. I caught the Roro Ferry (roll on roll off) for the cars and went across to Russell,
as I was anchored in Opua this particular day. I began walking aimlessly up the little tar
road into the country. A passing motorist stopped and offered me a lift. She was the wife of
the local boatyard owner. She asked me where I was going. I told her that I had no idea,
but that I wanted to just get away into the country and go somewhere peaceful and away
from boats. She laughed at this, “Oh, don't I know what you mean!”
She was going to visit a friend on a farm some miles out into the country and offered to
drop me off at a well known hiking trail. As it was autumn, the countryside could not have
been more splendid nor the conditions more comfortable to hike in. I was dropped off in
due course at a little clearing on the side of the road next to a forest which covered the
whole of an adjacent hillside.
“That is the beginning of the trail; just follow the path, and you'll have a lovely hike.” She
smiled kindly and drove off leaving me with the peaceful sounds of twittering birds and
soft cattle lowing from a pasture on the opposite side of the road.
