The Cathedral

Sacre Coeur in Paris (friend Mark falling off), Cathedral roof in Sorrento, Cathedral Spire in Nelson, Cathedral floor in Buenos Aires, Whalebone Arch outside Stanley Cathedral etc. etc. The list is endless.

When I arrive in a new City I prefer to make my first stop the Cathedral. I don't know why, I am not even a Christian - but somehow the majesty of the city cathedral humbles and collects me. It gives me a feel for how the city was in older times and it offers me a chance to be silent. I also think many Cathedrals were built in spiritually important places, sacred sites, energetically charged spots - this helps my energy which has been ruffled by travel to align and settle.

The last Cathedral I visited was in Christchurch. Their prayer was simple and beautiful and I put it here for you to enjoy too.. I send it for my friends and loved ones, especially my Father.

God of many names
Lover of all peoples

We pray for peace in our nations and in our world

We pray for all who have the awesome responsibility of power and decision making

We pray for the innocent victims of violence and war

Lead us and all the peoples of the world
from death to life
from imbalance to health
from falsehood to truth
from despair to hope
from fear to trust
from hate to love
from war to peace

Let peace with justice fill our hearts,
our world,
our universe

the BnB

I managed my friend Arlette’s famous BnB, Lafone House(that's the house from the front and the view from the front of the house looking out over the water and the cemetary - Arlette loves how central it is being next to the dead centre of town), for a month over easter.

I was nervous about serving breakfast to 9 and ironing the king size duvets – but little did I know that those would be the easy parts. I guess doing any new job is tough and at first I thought it was really different from my usual job. Later I realised that no matter what job I do there will be some measure of healing involved. Arlette (the sexy lady in the pic above) runs her BnB as a real sanctuary of cosiness, nurturing and relaxation. The people that come to stay are all looking for some part of them to be healed and cared for. It was a beautiful experience.

It is the 25th Anniversary this year of the Falklands war and much seems to revolve around this. My guests were a lovely mix of journalists, tour boat staff, Argentine veterans, British ex-marines, squadies and the odd tourist. It was fascinating having soldiers and journalists from “both sides” staying.

At first I felt slightly suspicious of the Argie guys – like I was fraternising with the enemy or something. In fact at one point someone called the police to inform them that I had 8 Argentines staying there! When I connected with the guys, felt their sorrow, their pain and their pride at having fought in and survived the Falklands war, lost friends and served their countries I felt love and compassion for them. They all had friends who died in that war.

Altogether about 600 Argentines and 300 British soldiers died during the conflict. Nearly that number again of deaths has been racked up by soldiers from both sides committing suicide. Apparently the atrocities that soldiers suffer has a massive and lasting impact. Men who fought in the Falklands conflict still have nightmares, anxiety disorders and commit suicide a quarter of a century later.

I don’t understand how war is ever necessary - it is way beyond my comprehension. What I do understand is that each person has their own journey and it is nature’s way to eventually come to peace. I felt honoured to look after those soldiers and to share their experience of returning to the islands, to their trenches and battlefields. They found their positions, their old shoes, their friends’ graves - one veteran slept in the battlefield, another has a Falklands tattoo adorning his bicep. I guess those men who commit suicide too come to peace in death.

Highlights

We've been having a brilliant time with flap - done 4000km, seen loads of cool things and done a fair few exciting activities - roller blading, walking, kayaking, jet boats.. we could spend a fortune on adrenaline pursuits - but both being unemployed strays at this point has ever so slightly limited us. Photos below: Timmy cooking supper in Flap (delicious green lipped mussel pasta), me drinking tea in Flap waiting for the laundry to get done (found roobos in supermarket - WOOHOO!), kayaking in Abel Tasmin park, redwood walk, looking for dolphins and whales in Auckland surrounds, driving the Coromandel peninsula - admiring the bird life, climbing the Mount Maunganui and enjoying the view and warm sunshine. The wait for visas has been devastating. XXX

Eating and feeding

We got to feed to trout and some baby prawns - very weird feeling with those little guys hungrily clawing at your arms. The really little ones eat scrambled eggs and mussels, the bigger guys eat fish food (I shudder to thing what's in those pellets). Then we got to eat their older cousins and aunties who were fed by other tourists a few months back. Pretty weird really. These guys started with 5o prawns and a barbie. By one year they had 150 000 prawns. They are now also filthy rich and sell about 36 tons of prawns a year. Anyone want to start a prawn farm with me in Africa?

Inspiration

One little man decided to build a train into the coromandel mountains to collect clay for his pottery. He was the first ever fulltime potter in NZ. People started asking for rides. Over the next 30 years he finished building the railway. This summer alone he had 400 000 people ride his little handmade train (more than ride the National railways - and probably more punctual service). He is now filthy rich and with the rest he has planted 15 000 Kauri trees which he will then donate to us, the general public, when he dies. The train ride was awesome through the forest, up the mountain - with stunning views up there. Imagine each one of us could live our little dream...

Beaches Galore

It's gorgeous scenery - we've seen some awesome beaches and even caught some waves - the black volcanis beaches were awesome for me. Tim just thought they looked like "skanky white beaches".

FLAP

We hired a "spaceship" called flap and are on a road trip.. Woohoo!

It is a very discrete car - no-one would know we were cheap travellors (can you spot it in the car park??) who sleep in the back of their car and cook on the stove attached to the back of the passenger seat..